Saints sweep Bethany

NSO – NEWS RELEASE

MANKATO, Minn. (csssaints.com) – The St. Scholastica volleyball team, after taking down conference foe Martin Luther College Friday, completed its weekend sweep by beating Bethany Lutheran College Saturday afternoon at the North Gymnasium by a score of 3-0.

The Saints ended its opening UMAC weekend with a 3-0 sweep over Bethany Lutheran. The win puts the Saints at the top of the conference with a 2-0 UMAC record. The first set of the match was back and forth, with the Saints scoring the first five points of the game, then the Vikings scoring the next five. After a tug of war type of match to start off the afternoon, Saints’ Olivia Krejcarek (Manitowoc, Wis./Manitowoc Roncalli HS) delivered a striking kill set by Erika Birkeland (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS) to give the Saints a 25-19 victory and a 1-0 lead. The second set proved to be just as good as the first, with the set being tied up at 14 before the Saints pulled away slightly. CSS went on a 6 point stretch to extend the lead 20-14, and fought back and forth until the Vikings committed two back-to-back errors to give St. Scholastica a 25-21 second set win. The third set was all Saints as they took over the set early and finishing strong thanks to Kariana DeYoung (Deer River, Minn./Deer River HS)’s two kills late in the set, giving CSS a 25-15 third set victory.

Scholastica showed that they will be a strong force in the UMAC this year, with a few particular players showing some dominant power in the match. Kortney Morrin (Grantsburg, Wis./Grantsburg HS (Northern State)) was back at it again. After unloading 10 kills the night before against Martin Luther, she came into Saturday’s match with a goal to beat by recording 11 kills to go along with 14 digs. Also getting their chip in on the Bethany Lutheran defense was Jen Hortness (Little Falls, Minn./Little Falls HS), Kariana DeYoung (Deer River, Minn./Deer River HS), and Noelle Elvehjem (Mora, Minn./Mora HS), each with five kills. The Saints’ setters, Kirsten Eaton (Plymouth, Minn./Wayzata HS) and Erika Birkeland (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake HS), combined for 24 assists in the three sets.

Bethany Lutheran was led by seniors Amanna Berthusen (10 kills) and Caitlin Decker (nine kills). Also putting in some work was Allie Van Hee with eight kills. The dirty work was mostly done by Jessi Jurries, who recorded a team-high 20 digs.

The Saints will host two more conference opponents this upcoming weekend as they take on North Central Friday night at the Rief Gymnasium, followed up with a match against Northwestern Saturday afternoon.