DECORAH, Iowa  – It was another marathon for the Luther College volleyball team. After two impressive performances on the opening night of their home tournament, the Norse faced another quality opponent in Carroll University Saturday afternoon. Like Friday, Luther was once again deadlocked in battle, but the Norse came up short to the Pioneers, falling 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 18-25, 10-15) on the final day of the 2022 Norse Open. With the loss, Luther's record now stands at 4-10 with a 0-2 American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) play. 

MARATHON SATURDAY
The Norse got off to a hot start in the first set against Carroll, cruising ahead to a 12-8 lead behind, once again, strong serving and a hot offense. However, mistakes allowed the Pioneers to crawl back into the contest, they whittled Luther's lead to 14-12. The Norse, though, seemingly put a stop to the bleeding, jumping out to a 17-12 lead on a serving run by Kasandra Keller (Kenyon, Minn. / Kenyon-Wanamingo). It was not enough to stop Carroll's rally, as the visitors tied the set 17-17 before gaining enough momentum to win the first 25-23. 

Luther responded by winning the second, evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 victory. Unlike the first set, the Norse owned the momentum from start to finish and watched it carry over into the third set. After winning the second set, Luther took a 2-1 lead in the match after Hannah LaBonte (Lake City, Minn. / Lincoln) set the tone with an eight-point serving run to give the Norse an 8-2 lead in the set. From that point on, it was all Luther, all the time, as the team hit .222 with nine kills to claim the third set 25-18. 

Despite strong play in the third, the Norse struggled in the fourth set, as Carroll forced the definitive fifth set with a 25-18 victory. That final set proved to be a battle. Though Luther fell behind 6-2 early, the Norse rallied to cut the lead to 6-4, staying within three points of the Pioneers lead. At 12-10, it looked like Luther was poised to make another late run, but it was not in the cards, as Carroll won three straight points to win the set 15-10 and the match 3-2 (23-25, 25-20, 25-18, 18-25, 10-15). 

TOP NORSE

• Sophomore Kyah Olson-Sola (Northfield, Minn. / Northfield) was named to the All-Tournament Team after tallying 20 digs in the five-set thriller. The libero also recorded a team-leading four aces.
• Emma Kowalczyk (Colgate, Wis. / Catholic Memorial) ended the match with 33 assists and three aces, while Emily Hagen (Owatonna, Minn. / Owatonna) led the team with 11 kills. 

UP NEXT
Luther returns to A-R-C play next week, as the team faces Dubuque in yet another road match. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Dubuque, Iowa. 

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