Captain Carlson: “Our game was on . . . We had a great flow”
The St. Olaf volleyball team defeated Hamline University 3-1 at home on Sept. 21, Homecoming Weekend. Melissa Burch ’13 led the Oles with 16 kills in the four-set win.
In the first set, the Oles jumped to an early 7-1 lead, aided by service aces by the Pipers and smart swings from the Ole hitters. Ari Carlson ’13 made six of her 13 kills to push the team to a 25-18 win.
The Oles took another early 7-1 lead in the second set, after the Pipers made five attack errors. The Pipers battled back to 15-12 after sneaking some hits through the Ole blockers. However, Burch went on a seven-point serving run that included four aces to give the Oles a 20-13 lead. Setter Kersten Bork ’16 had great saves to get balls out of the net and off the ground, keeping the rallies going. St. Olaf went on to win 25-15.
But Hamline gave St. Olaf some trouble in the third set. The Pipers made numerous kills from their front row, while the Oles struggled to keep the ball in the court and had a few blocking errors. Hamline won easily, 25-13.
In the fourth set, St. Olaf and Hamline traded points until the score was 12-12. Kirstee Rotty ’13 was an anchor for the back row during serve receive, giving great passes t
hat led to kills from Burch, Carlson and Katie Wolfram ’13. With that run, the Oles pulled ahead 16-12. Burch had two blocks to help keep St. Olaf ahead and win 25-19.
Bork finished with 39 set assists while Rotty had 20 digs.
“In general, I think our game was on. We had a great flow and our offense was aggressive, as shown in our kill and ace count,” Carlson said.
The Oles fell to the Cobbers when they traveled to Concordia College-Moorhead
on Sept. 26. With the loss, St. Olaf’s record stands at 6-10, 3-1 in the MIAC. The Oles embark on another conference road trip Sept. 29, facing the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn.
ripperge@stolaf.edu
You must be logged in to post a comment.