ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team has a history of playing its best volleyball against the top teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC). That trend continued Wednesday night, as the Wildcats hosted 2014 MIAC Champion Augsburg University. Unfortunately, St. Kate's was unable to come away with a victory, falling to Augsburg 3-0 (13-25, 25-27, 18-25).

The Wildcats and Auggies have traditionally provided some of the most entertaining matches of the season in recent years, and Wednesday evening was no different. St. Kate's pushed visiting Augsburg in every aspect of the game, playing toe-to-toe with the favored Auggies through the first 14 points of the match. Unfortunately, with the first set tied at 7-7, the Wildcats struggled on serve receive, and Augsburg jumped ahead 10-7 on a serving run by Macey Terhell.

St. Kate's battled for the remainder of the set, but struggles on serve receive and miscues on offense resulted in a 25-13 Auggie win in set one. The Wildcats got off to a much better start in set two, as Meagan Schwarzrock (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) set the tone with a service ace to open the set. From there, St. Kate's won five of the next six points to take a definitive 5-1 lead.

However, Augsburg showed why it was predicted to finish in the top half of the MIAC, as the visitors slowly chipped away at the Wildcats lead, eventually tying the set at 6-6. The Auggies then took an 8-6 lead, winning back-to-back points on a service ace by Taylor Linn and an attack error by Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis. / Elk Mound).
As per usually, St. Kate's showed resiliency, as it won the next five points to take an 11-8 lead. Emily Neumann's (Duluth, Minn. / Hermantown) strong serve forced Augsburg out of system, while Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace)'s kill solidified the three point lead for the Wildcats.

From there, the two teams traded points and the lead until the Auggies eventually pulled ahead 21-19. Again, though, St. Kate's showed toughness and grit, as Flatness tied the score at 21-21 with a kill from the middle. From there, the Wildcats battled Augsburg for every point, and eventually went ahead 24-23 with a chance to serve for set point. With Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall), St. Kate's was confident it could pull out the second set victory, but Kisch's serve fell just short, allowing the Auggies to tie the set 24-24.

The Wildcats fought off Augburg's first set point with a kill from Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran), but the Auggies attack from the middle was too much for St. Kate's to handle. After a service error by Brooke Beuning (New London, Minn. / New London-Spicer) put Augsburg ahead 26-25, the Wildcats looked like they were about to fight off another set point. However, Linn was too much for St. Kate's defense, winning the set for the Auggies 27-25 with a kill from the middle.

Despite the loss, the Wildcats rebounded nicely in the third set, jumping ahead 8-1 behind the serve of Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Byron) and Breuer. Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) also tallied two kills during the run, leading St. Kate's offense. However, Augsburg rallied with a serving run of its own, tying the set at eight and eventually winning by a score of 25-18.

Baker led the team with seven kills and just one error, while Flatness, Nelson and Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) each tallied six kills. Kish finished the match with 13 digs, while Neumann led with 13 assists.

With the loss, the Wildcats overall record falls to 6-9 and they are still looking for their first conference win, with an 0-4 mark in MIAC play. St. Kate's will hit the road for its next match, taking on No. 11 Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota at 3 p.m. on Saturday.