NEW ULM, Minn. - The Martin Luther College volleyball team battled St. Catherine University to a tough 3-0 defeat by the scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-11 on Monday.

The two teams went back and forth in each of the first two sets. MLC held a 22-20 lead in the opening game before the Wildcats scored five straight points to take a 1-0 lead. In the second set, the Knights rallied to tie the score 22-22, but the Wildcats once again made the final run with three straight points to take a commanding lead.

Leading 10-7 in the third set, St. Kate's rattled off 12 straight points on the way to finishing the three-set win.

Kati Aguilar led MLC with 13 kills and hit .303 for the match, while Ruth Buchholz recorded 10 kills with an attack efficiency of .833 to go with a pair of blocks.

Jewel St. Germaine led the team in both assists (17) and digs (21). Katelyn Aswege finished with 16 digs for the Knights.

MLC fell to 4-12 on the season in defeat. St. Kate's improved to 7-5 with the win.

The Knights will return to action on Wednesday, September 26, when they travel to Northwestern for the final UMAC triangular of the season. MLC will face UW-Superior at 5 p.m. before playing Northwestern at 7 p.m.