PELLA, Iowa – The Luther College volleyball team could not have asked for a better ending to the 2022 season. After competing in their final American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) matches of the year, the Norse earned two solid wins at the Sutphen Invitational, hosted at Central College. Luther avenged an early season loss, defeating Monmouth College 3-1 (25=19, 17-25, 25=21, 25-16) to open the day before closing Saturday with a resounding 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-17) sweep of Westminster College. With the double victories, the Norse close 2022 with an overall record of 8-20 and a 1-7 mark in A-R-C play.
MATCH #1: Luther (3) vs. Monmouth (1)
The Norse got off to a rip-roaring start in the opening set, using a nine-point serving run by Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) to take an early 13-7 lead. That run gave Luther plenty of cushion for the remainder of the set, as the offense tallied 13 kills, led by the efforts of outside hitter Emily Hagen (Owatonna, Minn. / Owatonna) and middle blockers Hannah LaBonte (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) and Sarina Stortz (Mabel, Minn. / Mabel-Canton). The Norse's efforts behind the serving line were also impressive. In addition to Kowalczyk's run, sophomore libero Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) tough serve forced Monmouth out of system late in the set, resulting in a 25-19 first set win for Luther.
The Scots claimed the second set, evening the match 1-1 after a 25-17 win. That was the closest Monmouth would come, as the Norse took charge in the third set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead on back-to-back kills from Stortz. Though the Scots jumped out to a 12-10 lead, Stortz and Brianna Highum (Waseca, Minn. / Waseca) swung the momentum back in Luther's direction, tying the match at 12-12 before Olson-Sola ignited an eight-point serving run for the Norse. Two aces and three kills after a 15-15 draw resulted in a 22-15 lead for Luther before Monmouth came roaring back to cut the lead to 23-21. In the long run, it was no harm, no foul, as a kill from LaBonte stopped the bleeding before a block by LaBonte and Zoe Verhey (Dassel, Minn. / Dassel-Cokato) secured the 25-21 victory for the Norse and a 2-1 lead in the set.
Luther was back to its dominant ways in the fourth, jumping out to a 6-2 lead and extending it to 11-5 on another LaBonte kill. It was smooth sailing from there on out, as LaBonte, Stortz and Hagen scored six of the closing eight points, with Hagen cementing the 25-16 fourth set win, allowing the Norse to claim the match 3-1 (25-19, 17-25, 25-21, 25-18).
MATCH #2: Luther (3) vs. Westminster (0)
Luther's grand finale was superb in every way, as the Norse closed the season the same way they started, with a 3-0 sweep. Luther was hot to open its season finale against Westminster, jumping out to a 4-1 lead on a kill by Stortz and back-to-back kills from Gabbie Schei (Stillwater, Minn. / Stillwater). From there, it was relatively smooth sailing for the Norse, who led 17-11 late in the set and eventually earned the 25-18 win on a kill by LaBonte.
The team needed to rally in the second set, though, and showed plenty of resilience after falling into a 3-0 deficit. In fact, trailing 4-1 after tough serves by the Bluejays, Luther rallied off five straight points, using strong serves from Kaitlyn Dailey (Utica, Minn. / St. Charles) to jump ahead 6-4. Westminster, though, kept it close, using a rally of its own to tie the match 11-11 before taking a 17-16 lead late in the set. The Norse were not deterred, however, as strong serves and timely kills resulted in a 23-20 lead for Luther. The Norse then sealed it by forcing a Bluejay attack error, taking a 2-0 lead in the match thanks to a 25-22 win in set two.
Set three was eerily similar to set one, as Luther once again used strong serves, big kills and even bigger blocks to bury any sense of rally Westminster built up. It was again Dailey who ignited the Norse run, helping her team take a 16-11 lead before kills from Kowalczyk and Verhey made it 21-14 late in the set. It was the familiar swing of Stortz that sealed the final victory for Luther, as her back-to-back kills cemented the 25-17 victory and won the match 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-17).
TOP NORSE
- Hannah LaBonte (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) was the catalyst for the Luther offense in the first match, tallying a season-high 18 kills while hitting .533 out of the middle. Sarina Stortz (Mabel, Minn. / Mabel-Canton) added 15 kills on 36 swings. Stortz led the team in kills in the second set, tallying 13 total to go with seven blocks.
- Sophomore libero Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) recorded 24 digs in the opening match, while Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) recorded a season and career-high 44 assists against Monmouth.
- Kowalczyk tallied a double-double in the second match, recording 26 assists and a team-leading 16 digs.
QUOTABLES
Thoughts from head coach Brittany Sisk:
"I can't thank our seniors enough for the time and dedication they have given to our program. They truly have helped me lead this very young team through challenging times. They made a choice to model hard work toward daily goals and stayed committed to the long term plan, even when the end was hard to see. It is because of them our future is so bright."
"Finishing this season with a 2-0 day is a significant way to end. I have never received so many compliments about the progress at the end of the season like I have with this team. They continue to make choices to do the right things and do the hard things. Because of that, we are ending the season playing the best volleyball we have all year. We cannot wait to get abc to work and continue to make things happen for next year."
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