SAINT PAUL, MINN.—The Hamline University women's volleyball team's 2023 MIAC opener pitted them against St. Catherine in a Friday-night showdown at Hutton Arena. The Wildcats prevailed with strong late-set performances that secured them a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) victory over the Pipers.

Hamline falls to 3-6, 0-1 MIAC, while St. Catherine improves to 7-3, 1-0 MIAC.

St. Catherine 3, Hamline 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14)

The opening set resulted in three leads changes, as well as a .140 hitting percentage for Hamline, and a .116 mark for St. Catherine. The Pipers jumped to their largest advantage of set one at 19-15 behind three kills and one service ace from Elizabeth Lopata at that point, as well as eight Wildcats errors. St. Catherine responded with a 10-4 run behind six kills and one service ace as a team, which gave them a come-from-behind 23-22 lead they wouldn't surrender in a 25-23 decision.

The Pipers registered four service aces in a second set that saw them trail for the majority. Two of those aces occurred at key moments as Elizabeth Lopata tied the frame 19-19, and Julianna Boyum narrowed Hamline's deficit to 22-21. The Wildcats responded with three-straight points to secure a 25-21 win.

The third set proved to be St. Catherine's most efficient, as their .375 figure on 15 kills, and just five combined errors gave them a 25-14 win and 3-0 match sweep.

Elizabeth Lopata tied for a team-leading seven kills and three service aces for Hamline. Lauren Wilborn tied for a team-leading seven kills, and added two aces. Jenna Rubbelke had 14 digs for the Pipers defense. Kaitlyn Kotek had 21 assists and 10 digs.

Lexie Petrick's nine kills highlighted a Wildcats team that hit .257 for the match.

St. Catherine had 10 assisted blocks, led by Maggie Rosen's three.

The Pipers will host St. Olaf at Hutton Arena tomorrow, Saturday, September 23 at 7 p.m.