ST. PAUL - Fans attending the St. Kate's Volleyball Invitational got their money worth on day one of the tournament as each match of the day went into at least 4 sets. The Wildcats went 1-1 on the day dropping the first match to UW-Superior 3-1 and taking the last match of the day in five sets from Buena Vista. 

vs. UW-Superior | L 1-3
St. Kate's came out swinging in the first set against the Yellowjackets taking it 25-20 hitting .314 compared to the Jackets .225. The Wildcats took the early lead again in set two getting a large lead at 8-2 and again at 14-7. The Jackets rallied back though taking the set from St. Kate's 26-24. 

Set three started out slow for the Wildcats with the Yellowjackets off to a 5-1 lead quick. St. Kate's powered back tying it at 11-11 and trading points until the Yellowjackets took a five point lead at 22-17. The Wildcats weren't ready to finish the set though coming back but ultimately dropping the set 25-22. 

The final set belonged to the Yellowjackets overpowering St. Kate's to get a 14-4 lead. Sophomore middle hitter Erin Cutts (Osceola, Wis. / South Dakota State University) was clutch from the service line getting the Wildcats back within 4 points before the Jackets took the set 25-22 to win the match 3-1. 

Three Wildcats were in double digits for kills in the match with sophomore middle hitter Erin Tebben (New London, Minn. / New London Spicer) and first-year Lauren Isaacson (Faribault, Minn.) both collecting 11 and Cutts picking up 10. First-year Grace Amacher (Faribault, Minn.) continued her impressive abilities with 26 digs averaging 6.5 per set. 

vs. Buena Vista | W 3-2 
In the final match of day one, St. Kate's took down the Beavers of Buena Vista University but not without a fight. The Wildcats held the lead throughout the first set to overpower the Beavers 25-18. 

The north side of the court proved to be the lucky side as things were nearly mirrored in the second set as the Beavers had the momentum picking up a 13-6 lead over St. Kate's. The Wildcats battled to come back but their efforts weren't enough and the Beavers grabbed set two 25-20. 

Luck stayed with the Beavers in set three as they were too much again for the Wildcats forcing seven errors and a hitting percentage of just .49. Buena Vista was able to grab the 2-1 lead over the Wildcats finishing set three 25-20. 

The Wildcats were able to find it in them again in the fourth set to send the match to five taking the Beavers 25-21 and the final set 15-13. 

Tebben, Isaacson and Amacher led for St. Kate's again in match two of the day. Tebben picked up 11 kills again with Isaacson grabbing 10 for the Wildcats. Amacher added another 28 digs to finish the day with 54 total digs while senior right side hitter Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis.) had a season best 6 blocks in the 5 set match also adding 8 kills at the net. 

Day two of the St. Kate's Invite begins Saturday morning at 11 a.m. with the Wildcats (10-9, 1-6 MIAC) facing the Banana Slugs from University of California, Santa Cruz and wrapping up the tournament with the final match at 5 p.m. against the Norse from Luther College. 

All matches will be streamed live here: https://bit.ly/2opCBdU