The St. Olaf women’s volleyball team suffered a tough 3-0 loss at the hands of University of St. Thomas at Skoglund Center on Wednesday, Sept. 25. The Tommies are currently ranked third in the nation.
St. Thomas remained in control throughout the three sets and never allowed the Oles to gain more than a two-point lead. During the first set, the Oles lost 25-14 after failing to stop St. Thomas’s balanced attacking. During the course of the match St. Thomas had four hitters with at least five kills, including two players who hit over .300.
St. Olaf was never able to take a lead during the second set after the Tommies went on an early run to go up 11-3. The Oles pushed toward the end of the set to make it 19-23, but they couldn’t capitalize on St. Thomas’s hitting errors. Abby Slack ’17 and Kelly Heissel ’14 both contributed consistent serving in the Oles’ effort to come back.
St. Thomas’ hitting once again proved too tough for the Oles during the third set. St. Olaf had the game tied 12-12 but let St. Thomas pull away to a 25-16 win.
Maggie Prunty ’15 led St. Olaf with ten kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Prunty also had three blocks. Kersten Bork ’16 had 20 set assists, and Slack led the Oles with nine digs.
“The game showed us what we need to work on, but we also did a lot of good things that came out of practice this past week,” Heissel said. “The season has been going a little differently than expected but it’s so much fun. We are a very young team and bursting with talent, so I can’t wait to see when we finally put it together and just flow.”
St. Olaf is now 1-3 in MIAC play and 6-10 overall. The Oles will be playing in a two-day tournament at Wartburg College in Iowa on Oct. 4-5.
