DECORAH, Iowa  – Tis the season of breaking streaks. The Luther College volleyball team not only snapped a four-match losing skid in its return to the Regents Center, but won its first American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) match of the 2022 season. The Norse earned a resounding 3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-18) sweep of Loras College Wednesday afternoon, claiming their first A-R-C victory since a 3-1 win over Buena Vista College in 2019. The sweep helps Luther improve its overall record to 6-17 and the team is 1-4 in A-R-C play. 

HOW SWEEP IT IS
The Norse dominated from start to finish in the opening set of the night, as they cruised to a 25-12 victory. Luther tallied 13 kills in the opening set, led by Emily Hagen's (Owatonna, Minn. / Owatonna) six and Sarina Stortz' (Mabel, Minn. / Mabel-Canton) impeccable 1.000 hitting percentage. Stortz, along with fellow middle blocker Hannah LaBonte (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln), led the Norse blocking efforts. After struggling at the net defensively for the last few matches, Luther regained its blocking form, tallying nearly 10.0 total blocks before the end of the first set. 

After claiming the first set 25-12, the Norse looked to take a 2-0 in the second. In fact, Luther streaked out to a 5-1 lead in the penultimate set thanks to aces from LaBonte and Gabbie Schei (Stewartville, Minn. / Stewartville). Kills by Hagen and Stortz extended the Norse lead to 9-2, but the DuHawks hung around, winning eight of 11 points to cut Luther's lead to 12-10 midway through the set and forcing head coach Brittant Sisk to call her first timeout. The Norse, though, had the perfect response coming out of the break, as Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) tricked the Loras defense with a nifty tip on the second ball, regaining control for Luther. 

Kowalczyk's kill kickstarted a 5-0 run for the Norse, as they took a five point lead they would never relinquish. Up 23-13, Luther capped off its impressive second set with back-to-back aces from sophomore libero Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield), clinching a 25-13 win and a 2-0 lead in the match. 

The third set proved to be far more anxiety inducing than sets one or two, as the DuHawks decided to make things interesting in the latter stages. After falling behind 8-2, courtesy of a serving run by Schei, Loras once again found itself offensively, winning eight of nine points to cut the Norse lead to 10-9. When Hagen seemingly swung the momentum back to Luther's side, the DuHawks went ahead and won three straight points, evening the set at 12-12. It was the closest Loras would come to beating the Norse. Though the DuHawks remained a thorne in Luther's side, the Norse were simply too much in their return to Regents Center, as they claimed the third set 25-18 and the match i3-0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-18). 

TOP NORSE

• Emily Hagen (Owatonna, Minn. / Owatonna) was explosive from the outside pin, tallying a team-leading 13 kills for Luther Wednesday evening. Sarina Stortz (Mabel, Minn. / Mabel-Canton) closed the match with a .500 hitting percentage and seven kills, while Brianna Highum (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) hit .235 from the outside. 
• Sophomore libero Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) and senior defensive specialist Kasandra Keller (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo) led the team with 14 digs a piece, while Hannah LaBonte (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) led the team's blocking efforts with four assists. 
• Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) recorded 32 assists in the victory. 

QUOTABLES
Thoughts from head coach Brittany Sisk:

"We walked in the gym hungry for our first conference win tonight. We have talked a lot about controlling what we can control, and the student-athletes truly controlled the game from start to finish."

"I couldn't be more proud of their grit and determination to win every point. We are ready to get back to work tomorrow and bring the same focus to our match on Friday."

UP NEXT
The Norse will return to Regents Center on Friday, October 21 when they host Buena Vista in their second consecutive home A-R-C match. Luther will also honor its seniors before, during and after the match, as it will serve as Senior Day. 

For all the latest on Luther Volleyball, stay tuned to luthernorse.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.