ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team seemed to have found the key to success over the past few weeks. St. Kate's went 3-1 in its last four matches and was looking for its second Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) win of the season Friday evening. The Wildcats played some of their best volleyball of the season at times Friday night and even won the opening set 25-21. However, despite winning the first set, St. Kate's was unable to overcome Carleton College's offensive attack, as it lost by a final score of 3-1 (25-21, 14-25, 19-25, 16-25).

It was a tight match between the Wildcats and Knights from the get go, especially in the opening set. The two teams traded points back and forth for the majority of the set, as neither St. Kate's nor Carleton was able to jump out to a substantial lead. Anytime the Knights were able to take a lead, the Wildcats were able to come storming back and tie the match. The same, though, was true for the other side. Whenever St. Kate's gained a lead, Carleton was able to string a few points together and tie the set, eventually taking a 20-19 lead.

A kill from Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) tied the set at 20 and gave the Wildcats the boost they needed to win the next three points. Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) was on point from behind the service line, while Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) and Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound) made two huge blocks on the Knights top hitter Lucy Stevens to help St. Kate's take a 23-20 lead.

While Carleton managed to score the next point, another kill from Peper swung the momentum back in the Wildcats direction and gave them a 24-21 lead. Baker then closed the set with a big kill from the outside, clinching the 25-21 first set victory for St. Kate's.

The second set was just as tight as the first, as both teams went tit-for-tat in the opening points of the set. However, the Wildcats ran into some serve receive trouble midway through the set, allowing the Knights to jump ahead 15-11. While St. Kate's was able to close the gap slightly, Carleton's hot offense and serving game was too much, as the Knights took the second set 25-14.

After the second set loss, the Wildcats looked to rebound with a third set win. Just like in the second, though, the Knights jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, as St. Kate's ran into trouble on serve receive. However, the Wildcats showed resiliency, as they slowly but surely chipped away at Carleton's lead. Serving runs from Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) and Meagan Schwarzrock (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) whittled the Knights lead to 12-9 before Breuer eventually got St. Kate's within one with a service ace.

The Wildcats were able to stay with Carleton for the next few points and eventually took a 16-14 lead thanks to Emily Neumann (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) and Baker. However, ball handling errors over the next few points proved costly for St. Kate's, as the Knights took the second set 25-19.

The Wildcats faced similar issues at the start of the fourth set, as their usually strong serve faltered in the early stages of the set. Unfortunately, Carleton was better than St. Kate's from behind the service line at the start of the set, jumping ahead 11-4 on a run from Lauren Pak. While the Wildcats tried to battle back, the seven point deficit was too much to overcome, as the Knights took the fourth set 25-16 and the match 3-1.

Several student-athletes played well in the loss, including Baker and Peper, who led the team in kills and hitting percentage. Baker accumulated 12 kills and just three errors in 33 attempts, while Peper was 10 for 46 with just two errors.

Schwarzrock tied her career high in assists with 26, while Bailey Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) led the team defensively with 18 digs. Kisch added 17 as the libero.

With the loss, St. Kate's overall record falls to 9-13 and the team is now 1-7 in MIAC play. The Wildcats will return to the court on Saturday, October 21 when they host Hamline University at 3 p.m.