St. Catherine University Athletics

The St. Catherine University volleyball team may have lost a tough five-set battle to Concordia College Thursday, but the resilient squad didn't let that impact its ability to rebound with two victories on the opening day of play at the St. Kate's Invite. The Wildcats got all-around contributions to take down Crown College 3-0 (25-9, 25-11, 25-21) before receiving dominant performances from Alyssa Besch (Apple Valley, Minn./Eastview) and Amber Zeiher (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) to defeat Luther College 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 15-4) Friday evening in the Butler Center. 

Seniors Besch and Zeiher both recorded career-high kill performances to give the Wildcats a well-desrved five-set victory over a talented Luther squad. Besch surpassed the 20-kill mark for the first time this season with a remarkable 24 kills with just four errors for a .606 hitting percentage on the night, while Zeiher tallied a career-best 17 kills hitting .400. Zeiher also recorded a match-high seven blocks to lead the Wildcats to an impressive 10 team blocks against the Norse. 

Megan Lindenfelser (Nowthen, Minn./Anoka) recorded her fifth double-double performance of the season with 11 kills and 13 digs with a .370 hitting percentage. She also had a match-high two service aces and assisted on three blocks. Sabrina Astar (Hastings, Minn./Hastings) also had a solid outing with five kills, two solo blocks and a block assist. 

Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson) anchored the defense with a match-high 26 digs, while Maria Davis (West St. Paul, Minn./St. Agnes) set up the offense with a team-high 30 assists. Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis./Muskego) and Hayley Levenhagen (Pewaukee, Wis./Catholic Memorial) each had 12 assists. 

In the opener, first-year Emily Carman (Maple Grove, Minn./Osseo) saw significant action leading the Wildcats with nine kills with just one error for a .651 hitting percentage. Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis./Osceola) and Astar also recorded nine kills a piece. Zeiher also added five kills with no errors in just one set played, while Besch connected on all three of her attempts for kills. 

Bailey Auseth (Wanamingo, Minn./Kenyon-Wanamingo) led the Wildcats defensively against the Storm with a career-high 29 digs, while Emily Neumann (Duluth, Minn./Hermantown) led the Wildcats' setting with a career-high 24 assists. Hannah Kleschult (Le Sueur, Minn./Le Sueur-Henderson) helped defensively with a career-high nine digs. Both Neumann and Kleschult recorded match-high two service aces each. 

With the victories, the Wildcats improve to 13-9 on the season. They are slated to return to action Saturday to face Wartburg College at 11 a.m. before taking on the University of Wisconsin-Superior at 1 p.m. All St. Kate's Invite information including schedule and scores can be found on the tournament site. 

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