CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA – The St. Catherine University volleyball team left Minnesota with a mission: to earn two more nonconference wins at the Coe College Triangular Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats left Cedar Rapids, Iowa with a split on its record, coming back to beat California's Occidental College 3-2 (21-25, 16-25, 25-18, 25-21, 17-15) before pushing host Coe to four in a 3-1 (16-25, 18-25, 25-21, 23-25) loss.

St. Kate's had to battle its way to victory in its opening match of the day after falling behind 2-0 to Occidental. The Wildcats dropped the opening set 25-21 before falling 25-16 in the second set. However, St. Kate's showed grit and resiliency in the third set, winning 25-18 to avoid the sweep and force the fourth set. Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) tallied four of her 12 kills in the third set, leading the way for the Wildcats offensively, while four digs from Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Byron) and four aces from Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) made the fourth set a possibility as well.

The fourth set was highlighted by another huge serving run, this time by Nelson. After Occidental took an 11-7 lead midway through the set, Nelson helped St. Kate's win seven straight points and take a 15-12 win at the end of it all. The junior outside hitter served three aces during the run, while two other tough serves led to Tiger mistakes. Although Occidental eventually managed to win a point, the damage was already done. The Wildcats went on to win 10 of the next 19 points, taking the fourth set by a final score of 25-21.

The fifth set proved to be the most thrilling of the match. St. Kate's jumped out to a 2-0 lead after back-to-back service aces Meagan Schwarzrock (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson). After the Tigers tied the set at 2-2, the Wildcats went on to win five straight points, taking a 7-2 lead thanks to kills from Breuer and Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace).

Despite the lead, Occidental eventually tied the set at 9-9 after taking advantage of St. Kate's errors. After that, the two teams traded points, with the Wildcats eventually taking a 15-14 lead with Kreuser's 11^th kill of the match. The Tiger tied it on the ensuing point, but another big kill from Kreuser regained the lead for St. Kate's. A strong serve from Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis. / Muskego) sealed the 17-15 fifth set victory, giving the Wildcats their first five-set win of the season.

Kreuser and Peper each had 12 kills in the match for St. Kate's, with Peper hitting a team high .340. Schwarzrock led in assists (18) and was one of three Wildcats to tally 10 digs in the match as well.

After the huge three set victory, St. Kate's was hoping to leave Iowa with two big nonconference wins wins on its resume. However, the Wildcats trailed host Coe College 2-0 after dropping the first two sets 25-16 and 25-18. Like the first match of the day, though, St. Kate's toughed it out and forced a fourth set with a 25-18 victory in set number three. Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound) dominated from the middle in the third set, tallying four kills and just one error on eight attempts and was also credited with two blocks to help the Wildcats to victory.

Unfortunately, St. Kate's couldn't quite force a fifth set like it did earlier in the day, eventually falling to the Kohawks 25-23. The Wildcats, though, did manage an impressive comeback. After trailing 19-12, St. Kate's slowly chipped away at Coe's lead, eventually tying the match 21-21 thanks to a big serving run by Schwarzrock. The Wildcats also fought off two match points before falling 25-23 on a kill from Kowhawk outside Lindsay Koch.

Peper once again led the team in kills with eight in the match, while Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) tallied a team-leading 13 digs in the match.

With the split, St. Kate's overall record improves to 6-6, and the team is still 0-1 in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. The Wildcats will return to the court on Wednesday, when they travel to Arden Hills, Minnesota to take on Bethel University in conference play. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.