EAU CLAIRE, Wis. – Winning just six games a year ago, the Linfield Wildcats picked up their fourth win of 2019 on Friday against Martin Luther at the Sandy Schumacher Memorial Tournament. Linfield dropped the first match of the day to Gustavus Adolphus, who is receiving votes in the AVCA rankings.
Gustavus Adolphus 3, Linfield 0
Being ranked in the AVCA polls throughout the season and currently receiving votes, the Gusties jumped out to 9-5 lead early in the first.
The Wildcats pulled to within 13-12 on a kill by
Lori Cimmiyotti, but the Gusties closed the set out on a 5-1 run to win the first set, 25-17.
Things were different at the start of the second set for Linfield, who led 5-4 on a kill by
Hannah Waterman, but Gustavus Adolphus won 13 of the next 17 points to take control of the set and went on to win the second set 25-12.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair at the start with a kill by
Regan Dean pulled the Wildcats within 12-11, but the Gusties won five of the next six to take command of the match.
An attacking error by the Gusties gave the Wildcats a chance in the set at 20-19, but the Gusties closed out the match on a 5-2 run to win the third 25-21.
The Wildcats just landed 9.8 percent of their attacks compared to 25 percent by the Gusties.
Raelynn Hammock turned in her fourth double-digit digs match, including the last two, with 10 on Friday.
Dean led the way for the Wildcats with seven kills and Waterman had two blocks in the match.
The two teams are tied 1-1 in the all-time matchup, with the Wildcats winning the only other matchup in 2005.
With the loss to the Gusties, the Wildcats are 0-2 against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the AVCA Division III rankings in 2019.
Linfield 3, Martin Luther 0
With the two teams dreadlocked at four in the opening set, Wildcats went on a 5-0 run, highlighted by a kill from Hammock to gain some separation.
The early 5-0 run and another one at 12-9 this time highlighted by an ace by Hammock put Linfield up 17-9 in the first.
Looking to close out the first set at 23-12, the Wildcats made two errors to allow the Knights to get back in the set at 23-15. Back-to-back errors by the Knights allowed the Wildcats to win the first set 25-15.
The Knights turned the script at the start of the second jumping out to a 4-2 lead, but a 10-0 run by the Wildcats capped by two aces from Hammock gave the Wildcats a big edge.
Martin Luther was never able to recover from the 10-0 run by Linfield, who won the second set 25-12, on an ace by
Hannah Crum.
In a back-and-forth affair, the two teams were at 13 on three straight errors by the Wildcats. A 3-0 run including a kill by Dean gave the 18-15 advantage to the Wildcats.
Linfield got its fourth win of the season on a kill by
Megan Stanek, winning the third set 25-19.
With the win, Linfield is now 4-6 on the season through the first 10 games of the season, they only had six wins a year ago.
Landing the attacks was the key for Linfield, who had a 25.8 hit percent against Martin Luther after just 9.8 percent in the first match against Gustavus Adolphus.
The Wildcats only had seven attack errors in the match, which is a season-low.
Cimmiyotti had nine kills in the match, which ties the career high for the senior middle blocker.
Maya Nakasone had 12 digs in the match, she's had double digit digs in four of the last five matches.
Linfield moves to 2-0 all-time against Martin Luther, the other matchup coming in 2012.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats finish the Sandy Schumacher Memorial tournament on Saturday against Lakeland at 11 a.m. CDT and St. Thomas (Minn.) at 3 p.m. CDT.
