DECORAH, Iowa  – It was the type of homecoming the Luther College volleyball team was hoping for. After another two weeks on the road, the Norse returned to the Regents Center Gymnasium in Decorah, Iowa to a ruckus home crowd and, better yet, a victory. Down 2-1 after three sets, Luther rallied to defeat Saint Mary's University 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10) in its first home match since September 24. With the win, the Norse are now 5-13 and 0-3 in American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play. 

VICTORY FORMATION
The Norse were rolling in their return to Regents Center, as they took the first set in dominating fashion 25-19. In fact, Luther led the set from start to finish, running into trouble just once roughly midway through. Up 14-11 midway through the set, the Saint Mary's rallied to even things at 14-14 before taking a 15-14 lead on an errant free ball by the Norse. The four-point run forced head coach (and former Cardinal) Brittany Sisk to call a time out, and Luther responded in turn, winning the next point and the entire set 25-19. 

The second set started similarly to the first, as the Cardinals and Norse traded points like candy. Any time one team seemingly gained an advantage, the other would come back and tie the set. Saint Mary's eventually jumped out to a 10-6 lead, using a serving run to give itself a four-point cushion. Luther, though, managed to cut the deficit to two at 17-15, using a kill from Emily Hagen (Owatonna, MInn. / Owatonna) to stop a potential Cardinal run. Sarina Stortz (Mabel, Minn. / Mabel-Canton) then obliterated an overpass on Hannah LaBonte's (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) serve, cutting Saint Mary's lead to 19-18 late in the set. However, the Norse were unable to catch the Cardinals, as Saint Mary's evened the match with a 25-21 win in the second set. 

LaBonte set the tone in set number one, opening with a quick ace to give Luther the early lead. Back and forth play quickly resumed, though, as the two teams once again started trading points and serves. Even when the Norse jumped out to an 8-6 lead, the Cardinals responded by tying things up at 8-8 before a hitting error once again put Luther ahead, this time 9-8. Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) then led Luther to a 12-8 lead before Saint Mary's took a 14-12 lead on a serving run by Faith VanErp. 

Though the Norse kept things close, they were never able to recover from the Cardinals five point run, as the visitors took the third sert 25-20  for a 2-1 lead in the match. Luther wasn't done yet, though. The Norse rallied to win the fourth set, forcing a fifth with a dramatic 25-23 victory, capped by a kill from Kaitlyn Dailey (Utica, Minn. / St. Charles). Luther's momentum carried over to the fifth set, as the team opened with a three-point serving run by LaBonte to take a commanding 3-0 lead. In fact, the Norse were the first team to eight, as they switched to the other side of the court with an 8-5 advantage over Saint Mary's. From that point on, their lead was never really in jeopardy. Though the Cardinals tried to whittle it down at 11-9, Luther's offense was simply too strong, as the team won four of the final five points of the match, earning a 3-2 (25-19, 21-25, 20-25, 25-23, 15-10) victory thanks to a 15-10 win in the fifth. 

TOP NORSE 

• Sarina Stortz (Mabel, Minn. / Mabel-Canton) was once again a force to be reckoned with for the Norse, as she led the team with a season-high 16 kills, marking her second-consecutive double-digit kill match. She additionally hit well over .500, closing the match with a team-leading .625 hitting percentage. 
• Emily Hagen (Owatonna, Minn. / Owatonna) hit .235 from the outside pin thanks to her 10 kills.
• Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) closed the marathon match with 34 assists, while Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) once again led with 20 digs. 
• Gabbie Schei (Stewartville, Minn. / Stewartville) just missed her season and career-high in digs, closing the match with 15 total. 

QUOTABLES
Thoughts from head coach Brittany Sisk:

"I have told this team all year how much I believe in them, that they can beat great teams. Tonight, they believed in themselves and because of that, beat a great team." 

"It's always fun to play my alma mater! I have so much respect for that program, but it sure feels good to finally beat them as well."

UP NEXT
Luther will hit the road for the team's final nonconference tournament of the regular season. The Norse will open the weekend at 4:45 p.m. CT on Friday, as they are set to  face #6 Washington University-St. Louis in St. Louis, Missouri. 

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