ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Carleton volleyball team leaned heavily on its veterans tonight as the Knights pulled out a five-set victory over Grinnell College in the first day of action at the Macalester Invitational. Several members of the squad established new career bests, including junior Kelly Lovett (Portland, Ore./Lincoln) who amassed 22 kills and 15 digs as Carleton overcame a 2-1 deficit in the match.
The Knights won the opening set 25-20, then got out of rhythm as the Pioneers moved in front by scores of 25-19 and 25-15. Carleton evened the contest by winning the fourth set 25-17, then pulled away in the deciding final set to win 15-8.
“We started off unbelievably slow,” said Carleton head coach Heidi Jaynes, “and didn’t play as well as we’re able. But I’m really proud of the girls for being so determined to battle back. They showed lots of fight this evening.”
Lovett posted a .425 attack percentage, and her kill total is the highest by a Carleton player in nearly two years. The last Knight to surpass 20 kills in a match was Annie Eckhoff (Sr./Northfield, Minn.), who tallied 22 in a three-set match against the then College of St. Catharine back on September 28, 2007.
Tonight Eckhoff hit .407 as she chipped in 15 kills and contributed five block assists towards Carleton’s sum of 14.5 blocks, its highest total since a 16.0-block performance at Bethel on September 1, 2007.
Setter Beth Jarrett (Jr./Mounds View, Minn./Irondale) did a solid job running the offense and handed out a career-best 44 assists. Junior Kyla Walter (Aspen, Colo.) was the third member of the rotation to reach double-digits in kills, accumulating a career-high dozen on this night.
Four different players had double-digit totals in digs. Libero Laura Barsness (Sr./Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) led the way with 21, followed by Lovett, Jarrett at 11, and Erin Anderson (So./Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) with 10.
Four players had at least four blocks tonight, including a team-best six by rookie Jessa Youso (Virginia, Minn.)
Day two at the Macalester Invitational includes matches against the University of Dubuque (12 p.m.) and Oklahoma Wesleyan (2 p.m.)
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