Information courtesy of MLC Athletics

Volleyball

NEW ULM — The Martin Luther College volleyball team lost 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19) at home to Macalester on Saturday in its final non-conference turn-up of the season.

The two teams went back and forth for all four sets, as neither team was able to separate in any of the four sets.

The Knights tied the match 1-1 in the second set thanks to a match-high attack efficiency of .162, but the front row defense of Macalester was too much in the other three sets.

MLC finished with 36 errors for the match, with 14 of those errors occurring due to Macalester blocks. Sofia Parmelee was particularly good in the front row for Macalester with nine total blocks in the four sets.

Kate Aguilar and Kaylie Solomon led MLC with nine and eight kills, respectively.

Kate Aswege finished with a team-best 21 digs, while Kelsey Birschbach added 20 digs and three service aces. Jewel St. Germaine finished with a team-high 18 assists to go with 15 digs.

MLC fell to 2-12 on the season in defeat, while Macalester improved to 3-10 with the win.

The Knights will return to action next week when they open Upper Midwest Athletic Conference play at UW-Superior on Saturday. That match will start at 2 p.m.

Men’s soccer

NEW ULM — The MLC men’s soccer team played well, but was unable to get over the hump in a 3-2 overtime loss at Viterbo on Saturday.

The Knights conceded goals in the 13th and 24th mintue, but entered the half trailing only 2-1 thanks to Joe Graumann’s fifth goal of the season off an assist from Caleb Koelpin in the 22nd minute.

MLC would quickly tie the game thanks to Clay Hirsch’s equalizer in the 49th minute off assists from Xander Heiman and Graumann, and the two teams played the rest of the half even to force sudden death overtime.

In the extra period, Sam Ginther of the V-Hawks scored his second goal of the game in the 94th minute to give Viterbo the 3-2 win.

Graumann finished the game with a team-best five shots, including three shots on goal, while Josh Higgins stopped eight Viterbo shots on goal.

MLC fell to 2-6-1 on the season in defeat, while Viterbo improved to 4-3 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Saturday when they travel to North Central for the opening game of UMAC play.

Women’s soccer

NEW ULM — The MLC women’s soccer team lost 3-0 to Viterbo on Saturday.

The V-Hawks Abbey Kellner scored all three goals in the game, including two in the first half to help Viterbo to a 2-0 halftime lead.

Kellner finished off her hat trick in the 48th minute to give the V-Hawks all the cushion they would need the rest of the way.

MLC struggled to generate offense on the day, but Mollie Fischer kept them within striking distance by stopping 14 of 17 Viterbo shots on goal.

The Knights fell to 3-3 on the season in defeat. Viterbo improved to 3-3-1 with the win.

MLC will return to action on Wednesday when it hosts UW-River Falls in a game scheduled to start at 4 p.m.

Men’s cross-country

NORTHFIELD — The MLC men’s cross country team finished sixth at Saturday’s St. Olaf Invitational.

The Knights were among 10 teams at the event and took sixth with 183 total points. St. Olaf took home first place with 25 total points, followed by UW-Eau Claire (44) and the University of Manitoba (72).

Ethan Carter led the way for the Knights in 27th place following a time of 29:03.1. Jacob Melso followed shortly after him in 32nd place with a time of 29:24.2.

Ryan Maertz (30:08.0), Caleb Lash (30:48.9) and Josiah Loersch (31:00.3) rounded out the top five for the MLC.

MLC will return to action on Friday, October 4, when it runs at UW-Eau Claire.

Women’s cross-country

NORTHFIELD — The MLC women’s cross country team returned to action with a seventh place finish at the St. Olaf Invitational on Saturday.

MLC finished the event with a total team score of 200 points, good for seventh place out of 11 teams (including second among the four UMAC teams in attendance). UW-Eau Claire took first place with 29 points, followed by St. Olaf (41) and St. Cloud State (92) in the top three.

Abigail Buege led MLC with a time of 25:43.5, good for 23rd place in the final race standings. Only two runners from UMAC institutions finished ahead of her at the race.

Emmalie Olsen (27:52.2), Elsa Ponath (28:54.9), Aimee Olsen (29:01.4) and Eliza Punzel (29:20.9) rounded out the MLC top five at the event.

MLC will return to action on Friday, October 4, when it runs at UW-Eau Claire.