Knights rally for thrilling five-set win over Saints in volleyball quarterfinal
ST. PAUL, Minn.---Twice in the regular season Martin Luther College and the College of St. Scholastica met in Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) volleyball with each emerging victorious which set up an intriguing playoff quarterfinal between the two that had the potential to be a thriller down to the last point.
And that's exactly what happened as No. 4 Martin Luther rallied for a thrilling 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-18, 16-14) victory over No. 5 St. Scholastica Monday evening in front of loud home crowd.
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Tournament Site |
Box Score |
From the very beginning, this match was destined to be one for the memory books as Martin Luther jumped out to a commanding 12-3 lead and pushed that same lead to 13 points several times before St. Scholastica went on an incredible 16-1 run to take the opening set.
In set two, the squads matched each other point for point before Martin Luther began to pull away late for a seven-point win to even the score at 1-1. The third set was even closer as the largest lead was just three points in favor of the Saints at 11-8. The Saints finally rattled off consecutive points to take the set 27-25.
The fourth set was all Knights as they jumped out to an early lead and never looked back taking the set again by seven points to force a fifth set.
Then, the Knights took another commanding lead at 7-1, but the Saints weren't going to go quietly. They slowly pulled back within three points several times but found themselves facing match point at 14-10. The Saints fought off four-straight match points to even the set at 14-14 before the Knights eventually mustered up two points in a row to claim victory.
The Knights were led by Jade St. Germaine who compiled 26 kills and 14 digs for a double-double. She also hit an impressive .321. Kira Grev also added to both sides of the Knights performance with 16 kills and a match-high 28 digs. Rylee Weisensel and Moriah Hackbarth each added 14 kills. Hailey Stade fueled the offense with 31 assists.
For the Saints, Brooke Schermann and Emily Bounds each tallied 12 kills with Schermann adding 12 digs for a double-double. McKenzie Orr led the team defensively with 25 digs and Espi Austvold had 24 assists.
With the win, the Knights move on to the semifinal round to face No. 1 seed University of Northwestern at 7 p.m. Wednesday in St. Paul. The other semifinal will feature No. 2 University of Minnesota Morris hosting No. 3 University of Wisconsin-Superior at 7 p.m. in Morris, Minnesota.
Playoff Schedule
Quarterfinal Round – Monday, Oct. 30
No. 4 Martin Luther def. No. 5 St. Scholastica 3-2 |
Box Score |
Semifinal Round – Wednesday, Nov. 1
No. 4 Martin Luther AT No. 1 Northwestern; St. Paul, Minn., 7 p.m. |
Live Video |
Live Stats |
No. 3 Wisconsin-Superior AT No. 2 Minnesota Morris; Morris, Minn. 7 p.m. |
Live Broadcast |
Championship – Saturday, Nov. 4
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed; Location and time, 7 p.m.
Ticket Information
All UMAC postseason events have the following set admissions prices: Adults, $7; college students and seniors, $5; youth (Age 6-18), $3; age 5 and under, FREE. Any UMAC students, faculty and staff are free with a valid and current institutional ID. No other passes will be accepted.
All tournament information including scores, recaps, team information and more can be found on the UMAC Volleyball Tournament page. Keep up with all of the tournament action on Twitter and Instagram using #UMACchamp.