SAINT PAUL, Minn.— Despite 10 kills from Jancyn Appel (Jr./Kansas City, Mo./The Pembroke Hill School), the Carleton volleyball team dropped a three-set match (25-22, 25-21, 25-14) against St. Catherine University Wednesday evening at the Butler Center. 
 
Both teams played even through a tight first set with neither side taking more than a two-point lead until late in the set. A block from Catie Marvin (So./ Wilmington, Del. The Tatnall School) and Grace Perret (Fy./Green Bay, Wis./Preble) gave the Knights a 22-21, but St. Kates ran off four consecutive points to earn a 25-22 win in the opener.
 
The Wildcats (7-7, 1-0 MIAC) jumped out to an early lead in the second set before Carleton rallied to pull within three points at 23-20 following a kill from Grace de Benedetti (Sr./San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University). The Knights (3-9, 0-3 MIAC) would get no closer however as St. Kates won the final two points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match. St. Kates went on to close out the match with a 25-14 win in the third set.
 
The Knights hit .093 in the match compared to .211 for St. Kates. The Wildcats held an 11-3 advantage in service aces.
 
Appel led Carleton with a team-best .526 hitting percentage, while de Benedetti added seven kills. Annelise Sokolow (So./Draper, Utah/Juan Diego Catholic) chipped in with six kills to go along with a team-high 15 digs. Setter Inger Shelton (Sr./San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) tallied 22 assists, six digs and two aces in the match.  
 
The Knights return to action this Friday with a non-conference home match against Wisconsin-River Falls at 7p.m.