Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, VA – The St. Catherine University volleyball team opened the season in very challenging fashion. The Wildcats traveled to Norfolk, Virginia to take on some of the top teams on the east coast at Virginia Wesleyan. St. Kate's battled against the hosting Marlins but fell 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-15) in the season opener before losing to Randolph-Macon College 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-14).

St. Kate's fought in its opening match of the 2017 season, pushing Virginia Wesleyan to the limits in the first set of the match. In fact, the Wildcats jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the opening set thanks to a serving run by sophomore outside Libby Kreuser (White Bear Lake, Minn. / Totino-Grace). After a service error, the Marlins were able to close the gap to 14-11 with a kill by right side Dare Wright. However, St. Kate's rebounded with a kill from Kreuser and a service ace from libero Larissa Kisch (Oakdale, Minn. / Cretin-Derham Hall), extending its lead to 16-11.

Unfortunately, that was when the Wildcats ran into issues. Slowly but surely, Virginia Wesleyan chipped away at St. Kate's lead, whittling it down to 17-16 on back-to-back aces by Meghan Wood before tying the set at 17-17. The Wildcats were able to regain the lead, but it was back and forth for the next 10 points. After Mackenzie Peper (Osceola, Wis. / Osceola) gave St. Kate's a 23-22 lead, it looked like the Wildcats were off to a first set victory. Sadly, Virginia Wesleyan won three of the next four points, taking set one by a final score of 25-23.

St. Kate's was unable to rebound with a second set victory, as the team fell behind early 5-0 and was never quite able to regain the momentum. However, the Wildcats were still hopeful they could force at least a fourth set with a victory in the third. Sadly, St. Kate's fell by a matching score of 25-15 in the third set, despite strong serving from setter Johna Radke (Muskego, Wis. / Musekgo) and outside hitter Bailey Brownlee (Buffalo, Minn. / Buffalo).

Peper was a hot target for Radke and fellow setter Meagan Schwarzrock (Hutchinson, Minn. / Hutchinson) and led the way for the Wildcats in terms of hitting with nine kills and just two errors on 29 attempts.   Schwarzrock tallied 12 assists while sophomore libero Kisch tallied 18 digs and one service ace.

St.Kate's tried to rebound in its second match of the afternoon against Randolph-Macon. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were unable to come away with a victory, despite outserving the Yellow Jackets with 10 service aces compaired to the opponent's five. Kisch led the way with three aces for St. Kate's, while Kelly Breuer (St. Paul, Minn. / St. Croix Lutheran) and Emma Nelson (Byron, Minn. / Bryon) each added two. Payton Baker (Forst Lake, Minn. / Forest Lake) was the leading hitter with six kills. 

The Wildcats continue play in the Virginia Wesleyan tournament on Saturday, when they face Marymount University at 10 a.m. EST and Goucher College at 12 p.m. EST. St. Kate's will then return home to St. Paul, Minnesota to take on Martin Luther on Wednesday, September 6 in the first home match of the regular season. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Butler Center Gym.