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St. Scholastica Advances To The UMAC Final
Story Courtesy of the St. Scholastica Athletics Site
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Score
DULUTH, Minn. – The St. Scholastica volleyball team held off
a game Martin Luther squad on Wednesday night in the Upper Midwest
Athletic Conference (UMAC) Tournament Semifinals at Reif Gymnasium,
winning in three sets (26-24, 25-16, 25-19).
The victory for the Saints (28-6) is the 12th in a row and the 28
wins are the third most in program history. The Saints won 32
matches twice in the 1980s. Martin Luther’s season ends with
a record of 18-13. The Saints went 4-0 against the Knights this
season, winning all four in straight sets.
The Knights led early on and held a 17-13 lead at one point in the
first set. CSS climbed back in and took its first lead of the set
at 20-19. With the score 24-21 Saints and after a Martin Luther
timeout, the Knights scored three straight points to tie it at
24-24. However, a dump by Sarah Kurtovich
(Andover, Minn./Andover HS) and a kill by Paige Hardy
(Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS) gave the Saints the set win
26-24.
St. Scholastica then did not trail in the second set, scoring the
first three points and never looking back to win 25-16.
The Saints jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the third set, but the
Knights scored five unanswered to take a 7-5 lead. Martin Luther
later led 18-14, before the Saints closed the match on an 11-1 run,
including the final eight points of the match.
Anna Zyvoloski
(Sauk Rapids, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS (Minn.-Duluth))
led the Saints with 18 kills. Paige Hardy added 11 kills and a
team-high 13 digs for her 16th double-double this season. Sarah
Kurtovich had 31 assists and Nikki Hughes
(Lake Nebagamon, Wis./Northwestern HS) added 12 digs. Rebecca
Engelbrecht led the Knights with 10 kills.
The Saints will host Northwestern College for the UMAC Tournament
Championship and a NCAA Tournament bid on Saturday night at Reif
Gymnasium. This will be the third straight year that the two teams
will meet, with each team winning one. The action is scheduled to
begin at 7 p.m. and can be seen live, courtesy of the iFan Sports
Network, at csssaints.com.
