Staff Writer- Katie Thomas

The Gustavus Women’s Volleyball team traveled this weekend to Si Melby Hall in Minneapolis, where the 43rd annual Augsburg University Volleyball Invitational was held. The Gustavus Women’s Volleyball team had an amazing sweep where they won all four matches against Minnesota Morris, Grinnell, Lakeland, and UW-La Crosse. They are only 7 games in and have only lost one, hinting at a promising season.
On the opening day of the Augsburg invite, Friday, September 5th, the Gustavus women’s team played two matches. Their first match against Minnesota Morris set them up for the rest of the weekend with a starting win. In their first set, they were tied 7-7 but went on a 7-0 run, allowing them to take the lead to 14-7 and later winning the first set 25-18. In the second set, the Gustavus team battled it out, often staying close in score. Midway through, Morris was leading 17-16, but that didn’t stop Gustavus from getting the lead back on winning the set 25-21; therefore, going up 2-0 in the match. In the last and final set, Gusties were leading a close game 15-14, but later went on a 6-0 run to put them up 21-15. Morris responded with a 6-0 run to tie up the set 21-21, but the Gusties didn’t let this get to them and ended up finishing off the game 25-21, winning the third set and taking a 3-0 match victory.
Next, with a short break between games, the Gusties then took on the Grinnell Pioneers and were tied 8-8 early in the first set. Gustavus took control of the set by going on to win the next ten points and closing off the first set with a 25-10 win. Starting strong in the second set, Christie’s went on an amazing 7-0 run, but the pioneers answered with a 5-0 run of their own. The Pioneers led 22-20 and were hoping to close out the second set, but the Gusties didn’t let that happen. They fought back and won the second set 25-23, going up 2-0 against the pioneers. The third set was back-and-forth runs, and both teams wanted the win badly. Gustavus won 6 points in a row to go up 16-7, then the Pioneers came back with a 6-0 run, bringing the score closer to 21-18. While the Spinners fought hard, Gustavus wanted their fourth win of the season and went on a 4-1 run, securing the sweep with an ending score of 25-19.
After getting some rest, the Gustavus Women’s Volleyball Team faced Lakeland at 10 AM on Saturday, September 6th. After sweeping both teams the day before, the Gusties wanted another win badly. They showed this by not letting Lakeland win more than two points in a row and winning the first set 25-16. Lakeland added some fuel to their fire and kept the duties at bay with a score of 19-19 in the second set. Gustavus shut down Lakeland by winning the next 6 of 7 points, closing the second set with a 25-20 win. The Lakeland Muskies tried to close down the third set, having an early 10-8 lead, but couldn’t hold onto the lead with the Aggies going on a 17-4 run and winning their third set and third match. First-year Greta Tompkins had 10 kills and 6 total blocks to assist her team in taking the win, and Senior Maren Sundburg played amazing defense with 17 digs, not allowing the Muskies any chance of defeating the Stone Lions.
The last game of the Augsburg invite and Gustavus’ second match of the day proved that the Gustavus Women’s Volleyball Team came wanting to prove something. Playing UW-La Crosse, the Gusties came out with a 7-0 run, leading 10-4 early in the game. Later, they held their lead 21-13, but the Eagles were eager to come back and tied up the score 24-24. Gustavus didn’t take this lightly and went on back-to-back kills to close off the first set win. In the second set, both teams had an amazing performance, keeping the score relatively close, but Gustavus finished the set 25-1,8, going up 2-0 in their last match. In the third set, the eagles wanted to extend the match, leading 19-1,1, but the Gusties went on to score 9 in a row and finish the match with a 25-22 win. This couldn’t have been done without Junior Sophia Deyak and Senior Leah Berg, who led the Gusties with 11 kills and helped them take their fourth win of the invite.
The Women’s Volleyball team showed their immense skill, sweeping all four teams and starting their season strong.
“I’m excited for more this season!” First-year volleyball player Leah Brigson said.
The Gustavus Women’s Volleyball team will next attend the Loras Invitational this weekend, September 12th. Good luck and go Gusties!