ST. PAUL, MINN. – The St. Catherine University volleyball team was riding high entering the opening day of the Macalester Tournament. St. Kate's entered the match enjoying a three game win streak, thanks to two wins at the Virginia Wesleyan and a sweep of Martin Luther on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the Wildcats luck couldn't continue, as they fell to both the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and Linfield 3-1.                   
       
St. Kate's battled but fell to UW-River Falls in the opening match of the afternoon, losing by a final score of 3-1 (23-25, 25-20, 17-25, 19-25). Hannah Flatness (Elk Mound, Wis.  Elk Mound) led the offensive charge for the Wildcats, with 12 kills and just two errors on 20 attempts from the middle. Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) added 11 kills, while Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace) had 10 to serve as the Wildcats top three hitters, while Payton Baker (Forest Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) led the team with 22 digs on defense.

St. Kate's played some of its best volleyball of the season in the opening two sets against the Falcons, losing by a slim two point margin 25-23 in the opening set before roaring back to win the second 25-20. In set two, the Wildcats held UW-River Falls to a .108 hitting percentage as a team and amassed 13 kills of their own in the set. However, St. Kate's ran into trouble in sets three and four, committing costly hitting and serving errors that allowed the Falcons to win both by scores of 25-17 and 25-19.

However, it looked like the Wildcats were going to rebound in their second match of the night against Linfield College. St. Kate's won the first set in commanding fashion. St. Kate's never trailed in the set after losing the opening point, and eventually went on to beat the other Wildcats 25-17 in the opening set. Kreuser tallied three kills and just one error, while Flatness, Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) and Emily Carman (Maple Grove, Minn. / Osseo) each added two to lead St. Kate's offensively.

Unfortunately, things did not go St. Kate's way after the opening set. Linfield responded by taking set two by a score of 25-19 and took advantage of the Wildcats errors in set three to win 25-23. Even though St. Kate's tried to mount a comeback in the fourth and final set, the deficit was too much to overcome, eventually losing 25-18 and falling in the match 3-1.

Baker led the team defensively, as she tallied 22 digs in both matches to match her career high. Libero Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall) tallied 10 digs in the opener and 12 in the second match of the day for 22 total. Sophomore transfer Meagan Schwarzrock led the team in assists with a combined 28 in the matches.

With the losses, St. Kate's overall record falls to 3-4, but the team is still perfect in Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) play. The Wildcats return to action Saturday after, when they take on UW-Superior (12 p.m.) and Knox College (2 p.m.) in the final day of the Macalester Tournament.