NORFOLK, VA. - The St. Catherine University volleyball team had a bit of a rough go in its first two matches of the 2017 season. On Saturday, the Wildcats rebounded in the perfect way possible, with two big-time wins over Marymount University (3-1) and Goucher College (3-1) to improve to 2-2 this season.
 
St. Kate's resiliency showed in the first match of the morning, as the team earned a hard fought 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-15, 25-22) victory over Marymount. Of course, the Wildcats first win of 2017 certainly didn't come easy. After winning the first set 25-22, St. Kate's knew it would need four sets to beat the Saints, as Marymount took set two 25-23. The Wildcats, though, ran away in set three thanks in large part to dominant serving. St. Kate's had 10 total aces in the first match of the morning, bringing their weekend total to 40. Sophomore libero Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) led the way for the Wildcats with three aces, while Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace) and Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) each added two.  
 
St. Kate's also dominated the defensive game against Marymount, especially in terms of blocking. The Wildcats tallied seven total blocks in the match compared to the Saints three. One of those blocks game in the first three points of the third set, which allowed St. Kate's to take a 6-0 lead on a serving run by Baker. After that, the Wildcats never looked back, winning the third set handily by a final score of 25-15.
 
Things didn't start quite as smoothly in set four, as St. Kate's found itself down 8-4 through the first 12 points of the set. However, the Wildcats chipped away at Marymount's lead and tied the game three times before taking the outright lead of 19-17. After that, St. Kate's never allowed Marymount to get within three, forcing an attack error by the Saints to win the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
 
After the huge win over Marymount in the morning, St. Kate's looked for its second win of the day against nonconference foe Goucher. Like in the morning, the Wildcats faced adversity in their second match after dropping the first set 28-26. However, St. Kate's once again rebounded in a big way, as the team dominated the Gophers the rest of the match.
 
Kreuser and Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) were offensive spark plugs for the Wildcats in the second game against Goucher, as they combined for 23 kills and committed just one error on 43 attempts. Kreuser also added six aces from the behind the service line and accounted for 18 of St. Kate's 101 total points. 
 
Thanks to the two victories on Saturday, St. Kate's returns to Minnesota with a 2-2 record. The Wildcats will play their first home match of the season on Wednesday, September 6 when they host Martin Luther at 7 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.