STORM LAKE, Iowa - Senior
Emma Nelson and sophomore
Grace Amacher led the Wildcats to two wins in the Buena Vista Triangular on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats improve their overall record to 6-1 this season winning the past five matches.
MATCH 1 | St. Catherine 3, Maranatha Baptist 2 (25-18, 16-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-10)
Nelson had a double-double with a team-best 14 kills and 19 digs in the five-set match. Amacher tallied a team-best 21 digs against the Sabercats.
Sophomore
Bryana Leverentz had 10 kills and 3 blocks in the match. Junior
Erin Cutts tallied 7 kills plus a season-high 11 blocks. Rookie setters,
Abbi Harker and
Marissa Gilbertson posted season-bests 26 and 23 assists, respectively.
St. Kate's hit just .093 in the match against Maranatha Baptist but carried the advantage in kills with 54-51 and blocks with 17 to 6.
MATCH 2 | St. Catherine 3, Buena Vista University 0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-19)
Nelson led the team in kills again in the second match tallying 13 against the Beavers. The senior outside hitter had her second straight match with 19 digs as she trailed Amacher who had a season-best 25 digs in the three-set match.
Cutts had 11 kills in 24 attempts and did not commit an error as she hit .458. The middle hitter added another 4 blocks in the match just one short of junior transfer
Katy Hensley who posted a season-best 5 blocks.
The team hit .185 in the three-set match leading the Beavers in kills 48-35, digs 80-76, aces 5-3, and blocks 7-4.
"We're really excited to 6-1 at this point of the season.", said head coach
Todd Nelson. "The team is doing a great job of learning and responding to different challenges. Today's wins were a testament to our team's depth and their ability to adapt during the match. I'm really proud of the team's progress."
St. Kate's is on the road again next Friday, September 13 as they will play in the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Tournament. The Wildcats open against Northland College Friday at 3:30 PM followed by a 7:30 PM match against tournament host River Falls. St. Catherine concludes the two-day tournament Saturday with a 12 PM match against the Yellowjackets of the University of Wisconsin-Superior.
