ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Carleton College volleyball team returned to conference action and dropped a three-set contest at No. 19-ranked University of St. Thomas by scores of 25-15, 25-16, and 25-22. Senior Olivia Powell (Palos Verdes, Calif./Chadwick) had seven kills and six blocks for the Knights.
 
St. Thomas (16-3, 4-0) hit .267 as a team compared to .095 for the Knights (5-12, 1-3 MIAC). The Tommies had three players tally eight kills, matching Carleton's Abby Loe (Jr./Apple Valley, Minn./Apple Valley) for most in the match. Grace Leuchtenberger (Jr./Newton, Mass./Newton South) chipped in five kills and posted a team-best .318 attack percentage for Carleton.
 
Carleton trailed 18-15 in the opening game before the Tommies closed the set on a 7-0 run. It was a similar story in the second set as the Knights pulled within 12-11, only to see the hosts respond with a 9-1 run that put the game out of reach. St. Thomas used an early 8-0 run to seemingly pull away in the final set, but Carleton closed to within 24-22 thanks to a block from Powell and Grace de Benedetti (So./San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University) before Fran Egan was able to seal the victory with a cross-court kill.
 
UP NEXT FOR THE KNIGHTS: Carleton returns to West Gym and begins a five-match homestand with an Oct. 9 contest against St. Catherine University at 7:00 p.m.