ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Catherine University volleyball team opened Wednesday night's match with a strong first-set victory before the University of Northwestern-St. Paul rallied to take the next three, defeating the Wildcats 3-1 inside Butler Center. Northwestern claimed the match 18-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-18.
St. Catherine came out firing in the opening set. With the Wildcats holding a 9-6 advantage, junior
Maddie Newton took over from the service line, recording three consecutive aces during a four-point run that pushed the lead to 13-6. Northwestern worked its way back into the set, but St. Kate's continued to answer.
Addison Vandereide delivered several key kills down the stretch, including the final point of the set, as the Wildcats finished off a 25-18 win.
Northwestern responded in the second, building an early 9-3 advantage. St. Catherine chipped away at the deficit and pulled within three at 15-12 following a Vandereide kill. The Eagles answered with a 6-3 run to create separation and eventually evened the match with a 25-19 victory.
The third set featured the tightest battle of the night. Neither side was able to create much separation early before Northwestern moved ahead 13-9. The Wildcats battled back behind kills from Newton,
Emma Nordeen and
Alivia Hanover, eventually taking a 17-15 lead. Northwestern answered with four straight points to regain control at 19-17. St. Catherine stayed within striking distance and closed the gap to 22-21 on a Hanover kill, but the Eagles scored the final three points for a 25-21 win.
St. Catherine again started quickly in the fourth, jumping out to a 6-2 advantage behind kills from Newton,
Marta Haugen and Maneeje Mostaghimi. Northwestern responded with six consecutive points to move in front 8-6 and later stretched the advantage to 20-12. The Wildcats continued to battle, but Northwestern closed out the match 25-18.
Vandereide paced the St. Catherine offense with a team-high 14 kills while hitting .220. Newton finished with nine kills, four service aces and 13 digs, while Hanover added nine kills and a team-best two blocks. Haugen contributed eight kills.
Mostaghimi led the Wildcat defense with a match-high 24 digs while also recording two aces.
Grace Nelson added 11 digs. St. Catherine split the setting duties between
Addison Preuss and
Jalyn Wolle, with Preuss recording 23 assists and eight digs and Wolle adding 20 assists and 12 digs.
St. Kate's is back in action on Friday hosting the No. 1 ranked University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Titans at 6 pm and will face the No. 7 ranked Juniata College Eagles on Saturday.
