SAINT PAUL, MINN.—The Hamline University women's volleyball team made the short trek south to St. Catherine for their 2024 MIAC opener on Friday afternoon. The Pipers' second five-set match of the season didn't go in their favor, as they dropped a 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 15-13) decision to the Wildcats.

The Pipers fall to 7-8, 0-1 MIAC, while the Wildcats improve to 9-6, 1-0 MIAC.

St. Catherine 3, Hamline 2 (18-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-22, 15-13)

Seven individuals chipped in a kill for Hamline in set one, led by Grace Tester's five. This engineered a Piper squad who hit .283, accumulated three service, and led from start-to-finish in a 25-18 victory.

Four lead changes occurred in the second frame, where Hamline jumped to a 16-10 lead thanks to a combined eight Wildcat errors, and five Piper service aces. This ignited a St. Catherine squad who doubled up Hamline with a 16-8 run, and didn't trail again when they knotted the score at 18-18. The Pipers tied the set on two more occasions at 23-23 and 24-24, but their attack error followed by Mallory Johnson's kill iced a 26-24 win for the Wildcats, which tied the match 1-1.

Three kills apiece from Riley Melby, Lauren Wilborn, and Grace Bathurst highlighted the Pipers in set three, where both teams combined for 21 errors. Hamline led from start-to-finish in a 25-20 win en route to a 2-1 match lead. 

The fourth and fifth sets saw Hamline out hit St. Catherine .119 - .091. Despite a .206 - .111 advantage in the fourth frame, the Pipers led just once at 18-17 before they ended it with a 25-22 loss. Seven Hamline errors throughout the early stages of set five put them in a 13-7 hole. St. Catherine responded with four errors, which engineered a 6-1 Pipers run that got them within one point at 14-13 to provoke a timeout. The breather paid dividends as Emily Brendan's kill locked a 15-13 win, and 3-2 match victory for the Wildcats.

Lauren Wilborn paced Hamline with 12 kills, followed by 11 from Melby. The Pipers had 14 services aces led by Mandy Dierks' four, and three apiece from Wilborn and Kayli Starkey. Kaitlyn Kotek notched 39 assists, while Jenna Rubbelke led Hamline with 30 digs. Lindsay Eckelman was dominate at the net with five total blocks along with eight kills.

Lexie Petrick had a game-high 16 kills along with 14 digs for St. Catherine.

The Pipers will travel to St. Olaf tomorrow, Saturday, September 28 for a 4 p.m. match.