ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University has certainly gone through its ups and downs this 2017 season. On Saturday, the Wildcats played arguably one of their best matches of the season, ending the season on the highest of highs. Despite losing to its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) rival the University of St. Thomas, St. Kate's took a set from the reigning regular season conference champs, and nearly took a second, in its 3-1 (15-25, 16-25, 25-16, 18-25) loss to the Tommies Saturday afternoon.

There was plenty of drama to go around in the matchup between the Wildcats and St. Thomas. The visitors entered the match already having clinched the No. 1 seed in the MIAC Playoffs, while St. Kate's was trying to win its second MIAC match of the season. Although the Tommies prevailed in four sets, the Wildcats still have plenty to hang their hats on, as they were one of just three teams to take a set from St. Thomas in conference play.

Despite the final score, St. Kate's also pushed the Tommies in every single set. The Wildcats hit .147 in the opening set loss, with 10 kills and five errors and were strong defensively. Although it doesn't show in the stats, St. Kate's blocked several hits from St. Thomas top hitter Whitney Lloyd to keep the team in the first set. Unfortunately, a bad rotation on serve receive allowed the Tommies to jump ahead 7-3 early in the set, a lead they would never relinquish as they went on to win 25-15.

St. Kate's hung with St. Thomas in the second set, but issues on serve receive resulted in a 25-16 win for the visitors. Still, the Wildcats made improvements to their game in the second set, as they hit .154 with three kills from right side Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola). St. Kate's defense was also outstanding, as the team recorded 14 digs and three blocks in the set.

The Wildcats finally figured out the recipe for success in the third set, as they went on to beat the Tommies 25-16 to force a fourth. It all started with a dominant serving run from Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace), where the sophomore gave St. Kate's a 3-0 lead thanks to a tough float serve that forced St. Thomas out of system.

Although the Tommies managed to score its first point of the game, cutting the Wildcats lead to 3-1, a service ace from Erin Tebben (New London, Minn. / New London-Spicer) took away any momentum St. Thomas might have gained and swung it back in St. Kate's favor. In fact, any time the Tommies started to go on a run, the Wildcats were able to put a stop to it and eventually held an 18-15 lead late in the set.

St. Thomas, though, wasn't about to disappear into that good night and give St. Kate's the win. Fortunately, Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) put a stop to any sort of thought of a Tommie comeback. The sophomore libero went on a five point serving run late in the set, extending the Wildcats lead to 24-15. While St. Thomas won the next point on a kill from Lloyd, St. Kate's was not deterred and won the set 25-16 on a kill by Kreuser.

After the third set victory, the Wildcats jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the fourth set, again thanks to dominant serving and scrappy play on defense. They also seemed to have an answer for everything the Tommies sent their way. Unfortunately, St. Thomas eventually whittled away St. Kate's lead, eventually tying the set 12-12. Although the Wildcats managed to win the next two points, an eight point serving run from Meghan Mazzola regained the lead and momentum for the Tommies. Sadly, St. Kate's was never able to recover, as St. Thomas went on to win the fourth set 25-18 and the match 3-1.

Kreuser led all hitters with 11 kills while Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) added 10 kills of her own as well. Kisch was the top defensive player with 12 digs, while Peper and Erin Tebben each had a hand in the multiple blocks for the Wildcats.

Bailey Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) and Emily Neumann (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) each ended their careers at St. Kate's on a high note. Auseth tallied three digs in the match and a service ace while Neumann ended her career as a Wildcat with a season-high 22 assists.

With the loss, St. Kate's ends the season with an overall record of 6-15 and the team had a 1-10 mark in MIAC play.