ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The St. Catherine University volleyball team opened their home schedule with two wins on Friday to improve to improve to 5-1. St. Kate's topped Bethany Lutheran College in their first match by a score of 3-1 before claiming a straight set victory of the University of Wisconsin-Stout. 

Head coach Todd Nelson said, "The team continually responds positively when we are challenged. Both Bethany Lutheran and UW-Stout challenged us in different ways. When we played Bethany Lutheran last weekend, we didn't adapt well to their defensive system and efforts and we became frustrated. Tonight, we overcame those frustrations and stayed connected as a team."

"UW-Stout continually put pressure on us with their execution, especially at the end of sets 2 and 3. I was proud of how we withstood those challenges and earned the win tonight. Being able to respond as a team like we did shows that this group continues to grow and mature with each match."

MATCH ONE | St. Kate's 3, Bethany Lutheran 1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-14)
Bethany Lutheran pressured St. Kate's early claiming the first set before the Wildcats rallied back to take the match 3-1. Senior Lauren Skar tallied a season-high 12 kills in the first match hitting .611 and junior Claire Segner led defensively with 13 digs. 

MATCH TWO | St. Kate's 3, UW-Stout (25-15, 27-25, 25-23)
Three Wildcats were in double digits for kills in the second match led by sophomore Lexie Petrick and first-year Madison Fagan each contributing eleven and rookie Tiff Tellez with ten. Sophomore setter tallied 15 digs and 14 assists in the second match as well as one ace. Fagan also posted three blocks including one solo block while Skar, M. Rosen, Tellez, and rookie Emily Bredman each had one.