DE PERE - St. Norbert College battled to a hard-fought 3-1 win over Wisconsin Lutheran College in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (5-5, 2-0 NACC), who won their fifth-straight outing, topped the Warriors (3-5, 1-1) by a 25-12, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22 score. The win also avenged a three-set loss at Wisconsin Lutheran last season.
St. Norbert had little problem in the first set, hitting a whopping .429 with 10 kills against one error in 21 attempts. The Green Knights saw a 12-8 lead balloon into a 16-8 advantage and cruised from there. The Green Knights got out to a big lead in the second set with a 10-3 advantage, but the Warriors battled back to eventually take a 22-21 lead. The two teams traded points, but St. Norbert closed out the set on a
Rylie Gregg kill and a pair of Wisconsin Lutheran attacking errors for a 2-0 lead.
The Green Knights held a 14-13 lead in the third set before Wisconsin Lutheran pulled away to a 23-19 lead. St. Norbert would battle back to a 24-24 tie to force a deuce set, but the Warriors scored the last two points to take the set.
St. Norbert trailed 15-10 in the fourth set but then rattled off five-straight points to get back into the set. The Green Knights gave up the next two points to trail 17-15 but came back to take a 20-18 lead behind a pair of
Brooke Clement kills and one from Gregg. Wisconsin Lutheran came again to tie the set at 22-22, but a service error and two attack errors by the Warriors allowed St. Norbert to close out the match.
The Green Knights hit .150 for the match, getting 40 kills against 20 errors in 133 attempts. Clement and Gregg had 12 kills apiece, while
Alyssa Mills added six.
Ellie Hartson had 36 assists.
Lauren Borchardt had three service aces, while Hartson had two.
Erin Eggers paced the defense with 19 digs, while Borchardt had 14 and Hartson 12.
Linnea Svennes finished with four blocks, while Mills, Gregg and
Molly Rader all had three apiece.
Wisconsin Lutheran hit .088, with 46 kills and 33 errors in 148 attempts. Kayl Wigley had 13 kills and Jenna Charron 11 for the Warriors, who also had 14 service errors as a team.
