EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — The St. Catherine University volleyball team wrapped up a two-match Saturday at the Sonnentag Event Center, falling to Edgewood in straight sets before taking a set from host UW-Eau Claire in the nightcap.
Game One: Edgewood 3, St. Catherine 0
St. Catherine opened the day against Edgewood, falling 25-20, 25-21, 25-19. The Wildcats improved offensively throughout the match and turned in their best attacking performance in the third set, recording 11 kills while hitting .269.
Emma Nordeen led the St. Catherine attack with seven kills on 11 attempts and just one error for a .545 hitting percentage.
Claudia Chmielewski and
Marta Haugen each added six kills, with Chmielewski also contributing three block assists.
Maddie Newton paced the Wildcats defensively with 11 digs, while
Josie Popp added eight.
Addison Preuss and
Jalyn Wolle split the setting duties with 12 and 11 assists, respectively. Popp recorded two of St. Catherine's four service aces.
Game Two: UW-Eau Claire 3, St. Catherine 1
The Wildcats responded with a stronger offensive showing against UW-Eau Claire. After the Blugolds took the opening two sets 25-16 and 25-15, St. Catherine answered with a 26-24 victory in the third before Eau Claire closed out the match 25-22 in the fourth.
St. Catherine was at its best offensively in the third set, collecting 12 kills with just one error to hit .367. The Wildcats finished the match with 37 kills, a .235 hitting percentage and seven total blocks.
Newton led the Wildcats with a double-double, finishing with a team-high 11 kills and 13 digs while adding two service aces. Haugen contributed seven kills while hitting .353, and
Addison Vandereide added seven kills of her own. Chmielewski finished with four kills on eight error-free swings and totaled four blocks.
The third set came down to the final points. After UW-Eau Claire moved ahead 24-23, Newton put down a kill to even the score. An Eau Claire attack error gave St. Catherine set point before Newton closed it out with another kill off an assist from
Lauren Dallas for the 26-24 win.
Preuss finished with 17 assists and five digs, while Dallas added 16 assists. Maneeje Mostaghimi recorded 10 digs as the Wildcats totaled 50 for the match.
The Wildcats return to action playing at home for the first time this season on Wednesday, September 16 hosting non-conference foe, University of Northwestern, St. Paul at 7 pm.
