Box Score Coming of its first conference win on Wednesday over Carleton College, the St. Catherine University volleyball team hoped it could carry its momentum over into a tough weekend tournament against several nationally-ranked programs at the UW-Whitewater tournament.  
 
Despite strong defensive play and a third-set victory, the Wildcats couldn't find a way to take down perennial Division III powerhouse No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis as they fell 3-1 (25-9, 25-16, 21-25, 25-17) Friday afternoon in Whitewater, Wis.
 
"We played very well tonight against a top-ranked team," said Head Coach Corey Phelps. "Once we settled down late in the first set, it was a good match. For the most part, we dominated the third game and our defense was solid again. We just need to keep working hard. I'm happy we were able to compete with them."
 
After dropping the first two sets to the Bears, the Wildcats jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the third set. They were able to hold on to the third set to force a fourth, but couldn't find a way to overcome an early set deficit.
 
Leading the way for the Wildcats was Abigail Palmer (Peqout Lakes, Minn.). The first-year recorded her fourth double-double kill-dig performance of the season – and her first since the opening week – with 10 kills and 12 digs. She also had the team's top hitting percentage on the evening with .182.
 
 Jana Christensen (North Mankato, Minn.) also recorded 10 kills in the win, while libero Shanee Herd (Alexandria, Minn.) anchored the defense with 19 digs.
 
As a team, the Wildcats returned to their early season blocking success as they tallied seven total blocks to slow down the Bears. Amber Zeiher (LeSueur, Minn.) recorded one solo and three block assists, while Zoe Peterson (Rosemount, Minn.) also added one solo and two assisted blocks.
 
Karsee Knutson (New London, Minn.) also contributed to the blocking effort with two assists and continued to fuel the offense with 20 assists.
 
The Wildcats return to action Saturday against host UW-Whitewater at 10 a.m. before taking on Westminster College at 12 p.m.
 
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