NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The fourth-seeded St. Olaf College volleyball team saw its run in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Playoffs with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-18 loss to top-seeded and No. 25-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College in the semifinals on Friday night at Gus Young Court.
Gustavus (25-5) got a 17-kill, 12-dig double-double from MIAC Player of the Year Kate Holtan and hit .308 in the win to advance to the championship match, while St. Olaf (14-13) saw its run in the tournament halted in the semifinals. The Gusties will host second-seeded Bethel in the championship match on Saturday after the Royals ousted third-seeded Hamline in four sets in Friday night's other semifinal.
First year
Madison Gully had a team-high 11 kills for the Oles who were appearing in the semifinals for the third time in the last four editions of the MIAC Playoffs. Sophomore
Catherine Moore and junior
Christina Cheng had six kills apiece, with Cheng also contributing a team-high 11 digs.
The Gusties raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first set with an 8-0 run, forcing the Oles to use both of their timeouts early in the set. St. Olaf climbed to within three, 16-13, midway through the set, but Gustavus pushed its lead to nine later at 24-15. The Oles saved four set points before the Gusties closed out the set on a kill by Holtan.
In the second, St. Olaf built a 12-8 lead thanks to a 5-0 run before Gustavus battled back to take a 16-15 lead. Trailing 18-17, the Gusties won five points in a row on an 8-1 finish to the set to take a two-sets-to-one lead.
Gustavus never trailed after an early 3-2 deficit in the third on its way to closing out the three-set win. The hosts gradually pulled away in the middle of the set, taking a 17-9 lead with a 4-0 run, and led by as many as nine down the stretch.
St. Olaf, which was ranked No. 5 in this week's NCAA Regional Rankings, will await word on a potential at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced via a selection show that will air on NCAA.com at 11:30 p.m. Central on Monday, Nov. 8.
