10/10/07

St. Scholastica's 3-0 victory at Northland College (9-13, 5-2 UMAC) in Ashland, Wis., Wednesday afternoon brought the Saints (10-13, 5-2 UMAC) back into the regular season conference title chase led currently led by conference-unbeaten Northwestern College.

A loss would have pushed the Saints three games behind Northwestern and kept the LumberJills from Northland in second place, only one loss behind the Eagles.

But a dominating performance by the Saints moved them ahead of the 'Jills -- by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker as both teams have two UMAC losses -- and within striking distance of Northwestern as the schedule begins its second trip through conference opponents.

Amy Thompson's match-high 13 kills along with Shawna Varichak's 12 spearheaded the Saints offense, set up by Megan Baartman's 28 assists.

The St. Scholastica defense also played a big role in the important match victory as they totaled 8.0 total team blocks. Erin Niles had four solo blocks by herself while Northland managed only 3.0 blocks in the match.

Five different Saints reached double-digits in defensive digs, picking up everything the 'Jills through at them. Varichak had a career-high 23 to lead her teammates while defensive specialist Diana Moody added 20 more.

Blocking and digs helped the Saints limit Northland to a paltry 0.034 attack percentage in the match.