10/23/06

Sunday evening’s 3-1 win over Crown College in the Reif Center at St. Scholastica assured the Saints a berth in the final-four UMAC post-season tournament.

One half game ahead of Bethany Lutheran College (7-4 UMAC) in the conference standings, the Saints (17-13, 8-4 UMAC) are four wins ahead of Minnesota-Morris (4-7 UMAC) and Presentation College (4-7 UMAC). Bethany Lutheran, Morris and Presentation each have three conference matches remaining on their schedules while the Saints have only two.

In her Reif Center finale Sunday evening, senior LeAnn Berscheit helped lead the Saints offensively as both she and Shawna Varichak each registered 12 kills in the match.

Berscheit added a solo block and three block assists for a total of 2.5 blocks in the match. Her career totals in block assists (251) and total blocks (342) are new team records, and her 91 solo blocks ranks fourth on the career list.

Younger sister Kati Berscheit, the league leader in set assists, added to her season totals with another 39 assists in the win for the Saints.

Defensively, the Saints were on their game as five different players recorded double-figures in digs, led by defensive specialist Diana Moody’s 21 which also led all players in the match.

A little more than two weeks ago, Crown gave St. Scholastica fits in a 3-0 win for the Saints that was the proverbial ‘much closer than the score’ indicated.

In Sunday’s match, the Saints easily took the first two games but fell behind early in the third, eventually losing the game to the Purple Storm. It was only the second game Crown has won from the Saints since 1995 over a string of 11 consecutive wins for St. Scholastica over the Storm.

Rebounding quickly, St. Scholastica jumped on Crown from the start of game three and never let them back in, easily clinching the match with a 30-16 win that extends their win streak over the Storm to 12 consecutive matches.

Still remaining on the Saints’ schedule are dates at seventh place Northland College and second place Northwestern College, along with a match against Finlandia University following the Northland contest in Ashland, Wisconsin. Even with losses in the Northwestern and Northland matches, the Saints would still finish ahead of Morris and Presentation and qualify for the post-season conference tournament.