CHICAGO, Ill. – The St. Olaf College volleyball team started the day with a thrilling five-set win over Aurora University before suffering a three-set defeat to the ninth-ranked University of Chicago to wrap up its showing at the Gargoyle Classic on Saturday at Ratner Center.

In the opener, St. Olaf (1-2) outlasted Aurora (1-2) by a 25-20, 14-25, 25-20, 21-25, 16-14 score line in a matchup of teams receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Preseason Top 25. Later in the day, the Oles suffered a 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 loss to the host Maroons (3-0).

Sophomore Nora Zielke reached double figures in kills in both matches and totaled 25 kills on the day to lead the St. Olaf offense. Junior Selena Rodriguez had 24 digs in the win over Spartans and had 35 digs over the two matches.

At the conclusion of the tournament, Rodriguez and sophomore Catherine Moore were named to the All-Tournament Team. Rodriguez recorded 44 digs (4.00 per set), eight aces, and eight assists over the Oles' three matches, while Moore totaled 23 kills and three blocks.

St. Olaf 3, Aurora 2 | Box Score

To start the day, St. Olaf played a back-and-forth match against Aurora as the two teams alternated set wins over the first four sets. In the decider, the Oles raced out to a 12-5 lead before the Spartans fought all the way, saving two set points to even the set at 14-14.

With the score deadlocked, an Aurora attack error brought up a third match point for St. Olaf, which managed to close it out on a block by Moore and junior Nicole Banitt.

Banitt, Moore, Zielke, and senior Katelyn Lannom all tallied double-digit kills for the Oles, with Moore, Zielke, and Lannom posting 10 apiece, while senior Brynne Gray and first year Waverly Thao combined for 47 assists. Rodriguez had a match-high 24 digs, while junior Christina Cheng had 23 and sophomore Kylie Reardon added 14.

St. Olaf committed just two attack errors in the opening set and used a run of eight-straight points to turn an early 10-5 deficit into a 13-10 lead. Rodriguez had three aces during the run. With the score even at 17-17, back-to-back attack errors by Aurora gave St. Olaf the lead for good as the Oles grabbed the opener.

The Spartans hit .357 in the second set and ran away with it late, 25-14. The Oles flipped the script in the third by hitting a match-high .333 to take a two-sets-to-one lead. Banitt had a kill and a solo block in a key 4-0 run that put St. Olaf ahead 20-17.

Aurora led 18-10 in the fourth before St. Olaf climbed to within four, 21-17, after consecutive kills by Lannom and Moore. The Oles got as close as three on two occasions before the Spartans sent the match to a decider on a kill by Addy Gruse, who had a match-high 14 kills.

St. Olaf surged to a 5-1 lead to start the fifth and forced Aurora to burn both its timeouts when the Oles led 9-4. Trailing 13-6, the Spartans won six-straight points to get within one and later evened the set at 14-14 only to drop the next two points.

No. 9 UChicago 3, St. Olaf 0 | Box Score

In its second match against a top-10 team in its first three matches of the season, St. Olaf was defeated in three sets by the host Maroons in its final match of the tournament. UChicago hit .266 in the match and limited the Oles to a .043 clip.

Ziekle was the lone student-athlete in the match to reach double figures in kills with her 14. Gray notched a double-double of 18 assists and 10 digs and was one of four Oles to manage double-digit digs along with Cheng (10), Rodriguez (11), and Reardon (10).

The Maroons never trailed in any of the three sets and had 11 blocks compared to just two for St. Olaf. In the opening set, UChicago led by just two, 16-14, before winning six of the next seven points to take a commanding seven-point lead. After trailing by as many as eight in the second set, the Oles got within four late on but could get no closer. A quick 11-4 start to the third set helped the Maroons close it out in three.

St. Olaf returns to Minnesota for the Augsburg Invitational on Friday and Saturday, Sept. 10-11. The Oles will face UW-Eau Claire to open the tournament at 2:30 p.m. on Friday before taking on Wartburg and Dubuque the following day.