NORTHFIELD, Minn. – The Carleton College volleyball team swung its way to a sweep of St. Catherine University (25-12, 25-15, 25-22) on Senior Night. The win and results around the conference secured the Knights a MIAC Playoff berth, the program's first since 2015.
Head coach
Abby Walton praised her team after the win, saying "I couldn't be prouder of this group for earning a spot in the MIAC Playoffs for the first time in my coaching career. From day one, they bought into our vision, embraced a team-first mentality, and committed to something bigger than themselves. I'm especially excited for our seniors, who have poured so much into this program. They deserve this moment, and I couldn't be happier to see their hard work pay off. We're not done yet!"
Carleton (15-10, 6-4 MIAC) started quickly, taking advantage of back-to-back errors from St. Catherine (5-18, 3-7 MIAC) to open up a 6-2 lead. The Knights peeled off a 5-point run midway through the set, with a
Rachel Bingham kill handing Carleton a 15-7 edge. Another 5-point burst took the Knights to set point, and
Alexis Ormsby tucked an attack into the back right corner to capture the opening set.
The second set was much closer in the early going. Consecutive errors from the visitors allowed Carleton to hold a 7-3 lead after 10 points, but the Wildcats flipped the script and tied the set at 10. Carleton responded by winning 11 of the next 12 points, including a 9-point sprint, to earn a 21-11 advantage. Bingham had four kills during the run. St. Catherine scored four of the next five, but Carleton wrapped up the set with three straight points, capped by
Aditi Mukhirala's kill down the line.
St. Catherine earned its first lead in any set at the top of the third, leading 5-2 after a Carleton error. The lead flipped five times over the rest of the set, with eight ties. The Knights finally took the lead for good at 22-21 thanks to a block from Mukhirala and
Jennifer Bricker. Bingham and Bricker combined on a block on the next point, and a service error set up match point. Fittingly, senior Bingham capped a Senior Night win with a kill.
Bingham led the game with 15 kills to just one error on 35 attempts, hitting .400. Mukhirala racked up 12 kills and 13 digs for a double-double.
Ellewyn Swafford collected eight kills on 18 attempts to hit .389. Rookie setter
Raffaella Gardner collected 37 assists. Bricker had a solo block and four block assists. Libero
Madeleine Dimitre collected 25 digs.
Carleton could finish between third and sixth in the conference depending on results around the league. Finishing third or fourth in the regular season would earn the Knights a first-round playoff game at West Gym.
Up Next for the Knights
Carleton concludes its regular-season slate next Saturday, Nov. 7 at the College of Saint Benedict. First serve at Claire Lynch Hall is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
