10/26/06

Led by a quartet of smack-down front-line players, the Saints defeated Northland College for the second time in two weeks, and for the 23rd time in a row since 1997.

The Saints' 3-1 win in Ashland, Wis., Wednesday afternoon improved their conference mark to 9-4 and their overall record to 18-13, one win shy of last season's regular season total.

Senior LeAnn Berscheit is finishing her final season off with a bang, leading the match in kills (17) and the Saints in blocks (3.0) in the win over the LumberJills. She has accumulated 50 kills in the last four Saints contests -- all St. Scholastica victories -- for an average of more than 12 per match. The team's all-time leader in total blocks has picked up 10 in those same four matches to increase her career total to 345.

Three sophomores were the other hitting stars for St. Scholastica as Erin Niles added a dozen while both Shawna Varichak and Amy Thompson chipped in with 10 apiece.

St. Scholastica's domination of Northland has lingered since 1995. Beginning with three wins during the season that year, the Saints' record against the 'Jills since then is now 29-1.

The conference victory pushes the Saints a full game ahead of fourth place Bethany Lutheran College in the UMAC standings. St. Scholastica has one conference game remaining on their schedule, against second place Northwestern, while Bethany Lutheran has three left to try and catch the Saints.