ST. PAUL, Minn. – Slow starts doomed the Carleton College volleyball team in a 3-0 loss to national No. 10 University of St. Thomas on Wednesday, 25-21, 25-19, and 25-16. Senior middle hitter Annie Eckhoff (Northfield, Minn.) led the Knights with 10 kills and four blocks.
After falling behind early in each set, Carleton (13-8, 3-5 MIAC) was unable to rally past the Tommies, who jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opener and extended the advantage to 17-9. The Knights outscored St. Thomas over the later portion of the set but the shortfall proved to be too large to overcome.
The story repeated itself in the second set as the Tommies (21-6, 7-1 MIAC) eventually built a 15-9 edge and held on for the six point victory.
The Knights nearly erased an 8-0 hole in the third set as Erin Anderson’s (So./Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy) service ace pulled Carleton within a point at 10-9. St. Thomas, though, completed the sweep with a 12-5 run.
Other statistical leaders for Carleton include junior setter Beth Jarrett (Mounds View, Minn./Irondale) with 29 assists and senior libero Laura Barsness (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North) with 17 digs.
The Knights continued their strong defensive work at the net, totaling 7.0 blocks in the match, including four in the opening set.
Kyley Crotty and Jill Osborne each had 11 kills to lead St. Thomas which hit .208 in the match compared to .112 for Carleton.
Carleton will look to get back into the win column when the Knights travel to Hamline University for a 7 p.m. match on Friday, Oct. 23. The Pipers (12-12, 1-7 MIAC) notched their first conference victory with a sweep of Macalester College tonight.