October 31

Volleyball falls in MIAC Playoffs

Making their first appearance in the playoffs since the conference moved to a six-team format, the Pipers lost in the first round of the MIAC Playoffs, 30-21, 30-21, 24-30, 30-9 Tuesday night in St. Paul, Minn.

The Pipers, who entered the playoffs as the fifth-seed, completed the season with a 17-10 record as the Tommies (28-6) avenged a five-game loss to Hamline on Oct. 18.

Junior Shelby Hyllengren led the Pipers with 12 kills. Senior Dana Luiken added 10 kills. Senior Jenna Witt led the defense with 18 digs.

St. Thomas, who is ranked seventh in the country in the latest AVCA poll, received 15 kills and 16 digs from Rachelle Dosch. They move on to play at Concordia in the MIAC Semifinals Thursday night.

The Tommies took leads of 19-14 in game one and 17-5 in game two. In the fourth game, St. Thomas stormed to a 10-0 advantage.

Seniors Luiken, Witt, and Christina Rossetter played in their last match for the Pipers. In their four seasons, the Pipers went from a 2-9 record in a conference play to earning the school's first winning season (6-5) in the MIAC since 1994. Luiken leaves fourth on Hamline's all-time kills list with 1,169. Witt is the leader in career digs with 1,792.

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