EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The St. Catherine University volleyball team battled through five sets Friday afternoon, ultimately falling to Coe College 3-2 at the Sonnentag Event Center. The Wildcats took the opening set 25-19 and forced a decisive fifth with a 25-23 win in the fourth before Coe closed out the match 15-9. St. Kate's moved to 2-4 on the season with the loss.
St. Catherine came out sharp in the opener, hitting .297 with 13 kills against just two errors. The Wildcats broke away from a 14-14 tie and controlled the closing stretch, with Emma Nordeen providing the final kill in the 25-19 victory.
The second set developed into the closest frame of the match. St. Kate's built a 23-21 advantage late before Coe pulled even, and the teams continued trading points into extra rallies. Alivia Hanover put the Wildcats ahead 27-26 with a kill, but Coe answered with three straight points to escape with a 29-27 win and even the match.
Coe carried the momentum into the third set, taking a 25-16 victory, but the Wildcats responded in the fourth. Trailing 21-18 late in the frame, St. Catherine put together a rally behind kills from Addison Vandereide, Claudia Chmielewski and Hanover. After Coe regained a 23-22 lead, Hanover tied the set before Chmielewski gave the Wildcats set point. Chmielewski and Marta Haugen then combined on a block to finish the 25-23 win and send the match to a fifth set.
Coe established an early advantage in the deciding frame and held off a late St. Kate's push for the 15-9 victory.
Maddie Newton led the Wildcats offensively with 13 kills on a .306 hitting percentage while adding 14 digs and two service aces. Hanover finished with nine kills on .333 hitting and four total blocks, while Nordeen was highly efficient with seven kills and just one error on 13 attacks for a .462 percentage.
Maneeje Mostaghimi paced the defense with 18 digs and added two aces, while Addison Preuss recorded 17 assists, 10 digs and two aces. Jalyn Wolle led St. Catherine with 18 assists and also chipped in seven digs. Chmielewski finished with six block assists as the Wildcats totaled nine blocks as a team.
St. Catherine faces Edgewood College and host Wisconsin-Eau Claire on Saturday in Eau Claire.
