Alli Joerger – Staff Writer
The Gustavus women’s volleyball team has had a spooktacular season. Their dominant play throughout the year has brought the team together and given the Gusties an opportunity to snag the number one seed as the season draws to a close.
“Bethel and Hamline have a big match this weekend, and depending on the outcome of that game, we will either be the one seed or the two seed,” sophomore Marlee Turn said.
With the top seed in sight, the Gusties buckled down and took care of business this past weekend. On Friday, they hosted the Concordia Cobbers and played one of their most complete games of the season.
“Overall we played really well against Concordia and St. Ben’s. After Tuesday we had a little bit of a rough match against Northwestern so our goal was to have a good response to that and respond well and I think we did that,” Turn said.
The Gusties jumped out to an early lead in the first set and used an 8-3 run to expand their lead to 10, with the score reading 19-9. Senior Kate Holtan led the attack and finished the first set with 12 kills. The Gusties took the first set 25-18.
“I felt good about my personal performance. Our setter, Kasie Tweet, did a great job running the offense this weekend, which gave me a lot of opportunities to be aggressive at the net,” Holtan said.
The offensive prowess displayed by Holtan and Co. continued in the following sets. Gustavus quickly dispatched the Cobbers in the second set, scoring 11 in a 12 point stretch to jump out to an 18-6 lead. The Gusties finished the winning set with a score of 25-14. The final set was even less competitive, as the Gusties completed the sweep with a 25-11 victory.
“Keeping the energy was key. We always try to keep it lighthearted but also try to be really competitive at the same time and to just get after it…having a loud home fan section meant a lot and I think it definitely played a factor in how we played,” Turn said.
Holtan finished the match with 23 kills, which was a new career high. Holtan’s strong play has been an instrumental part of the Gustie’s success this year, and everyone on the Gusties knows that.
“Kate brings a lot of energy and fun to the team. You can always depend on her for anything. When the ball is in her hands, you can trust her. She helps complete our team and I am glad that I can play on a team with her,” Turn said.
The Gusties had a quick turnaround and hosted St. Bens on Saturday. The Gusties carried their momentum from the previous day and had yet another excellent performance. Turn and Holtan ignited the Gustie offense with a pair of kills in the middle of the first set, and the Gusties never looked back. They took the first set 25-17.
“Our team works really well as a unit. I think this sense of unity has created trust amongst all of us, which has been a key to our consistent performances thus far,” Holtan said.
This unity was on full display in the following sets. The Gusties blitzed the Bennies in set two and took an early 7-3 lead. The Bennies were able to keep the set within striking distance for a while, but a kill by Holtan ignited a 10-5 run to close out the second set 25-15. The Gusties took the final set by an even greater margin, as they buried the Bennies 25-13.
Performances like the ones the Gusties had this weekend are exciting to watch and enjoyable for team members; dominant wins have been a staple for the women’s team all year, and gives the Gusties confidence heading into the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Gusties, the easy wins will be harder to come by come playoff time. However, there is team-wide confidence that they are prepared for those closer matches.
“Although we haven’t seen a super close match in awhile, we have faced tough opponents in some tight matches earlier in the season. We have had close matches where we have come out on top, as well as a few where we haven’t…I think these experiences have prepared us for close competition as we enter the postseason,” Holtan said.
The Gusties will close out their regular season by hosting St. Scholastica on Oct. 29th. After that, the Gusties head into the playoffs with MIAC championship aspirations.