GRINNELL, Iowa — The St. Catherine University volleyball team put together a 2-0 Saturday at Darby Gym, defeating Grinnell in four sets before closing the day with a five-set victory over Simpson. The pair of wins moved the Wildcats to 2-2 on the season.
St. Catherine 3, Grinnell 1
St. Catherine opened the day with a 25-23, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23 victory, finishing the match with 56 kills and a .206 hitting percentage.
Marta Haugen paced the Wildcats offensively with 14 kills on 32 swings while hitting .313.
Claudia Chmielewski added 11 kills with just two errors for a team-best .360 hitting percentage, while
Quinlynn Parish reached double figures with 10 kills.
Alivia Hanover added eight kills while hitting .333.
The Wildcats rallied late in a tight opening set. Trailing 21-19, St. Catherine scored four straight points, including kills from Maneeje Mostaghimi, Haugen and Parish, to move in front 23-21. Chmielewski then delivered the final two St. Catherine kills to secure the 25-23 win.
St. Catherine carried the momentum into the second set, taking control on the way to a 25-18 victory and a 2-0 match lead. After dropping the third, the Wildcats responded in another close fourth set. Haugen delivered kills on consecutive late rallies as St. Catherine moved ahead 23-20.
Emma Nordeen later put the Wildcats at match point with a kill before Hanover and Nordeen combined on the block that closed out the 25-23 victory.
Defensively, Mostaghimi led St. Catherine with 20 digs, followed by
Maddie Newton with 17 and
Addison Preuss with 11. Preuss directed the offense with 29 assists, while
Jalyn Wolle added 18 assists and eight digs. Nordeen finished with five block assists, while Haugen added four.
St. Catherine 3, Simpson 2
The Wildcats returned to the court later Saturday and battled through five sets, earning a 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 16-25, 15-13 victory.
Haugen again led St. Catherine with 11 kills while adding five block assists. Chmielewski finished with nine kills and was a major presence at the net with one solo block and seven block assists. Hanover contributed six kills and four block assists, while Parish recorded six kills, eight digs and three block assists.
St. Catherine closed the first set with three of the final four points, capped by a block from Haugen and Chmielewski to take the 25-21 win. The Wildcats followed with another tight victory in the second, as Parish and Haugen delivered kills on two of St. Catherine's final three points in a 25-23 decision.
After the match was pushed to a deciding fifth set, the Wildcats found themselves trailing 13-10. St. Catherine answered with five consecutive points to complete the comeback. Chmielewski started the run with a kill before Parish and Chmielewski teamed up on back-to-back blocks to pull the Wildcats even at 13-13. St. Catherine moved ahead 14-13 on the next rally before Parish finished the match with the decisive kill for a 15-13 victory.
Mostaghimi again anchored the back row with 19 digs. Newton added 14 digs, Preuss recorded 11 and Wolle finished with 10. Preuss led the setting effort with 18 assists and Wolle added 11. St. Catherine totaled 14 blocks in the victory, with Chmielewski involved in eight and Nordeen contributing six.
Across the two victories, Haugen totaled 25 kills, Chmielewski recorded 20 kills and Mostaghimi collected 39 digs. Preuss handed out 47 assists and Wolle added 29 as the Wildcats finished the day unbeaten.
The Wildcats travel to Menomonie on Wednesday, September 9 for a 7 pm non-conference match at University of Wisconsin Stout.
