JIET, Ill. --- In a battle of fourth-place teams in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team aced out Cardinal Stritch University 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 25-14 at the Sullivan Center on Tuesday night.

The Saints used 12 aces on the night to secure their 12th victory of the season opposite 13 losses. In league play, USF improved to 8-3.  Cardinal Stritch dropped to 10-7 overall and 7-4 in conference competition.

Three different Saints notched three aces on the night, including top setter Kaylie Sippel, who totaled 31 assists. Dig co-leader Hannah Monfre (11 digs) also amassed that number of aces as did Stephanie Woods, who led the way at the net with her five blocks.

Other top leaders on the night were Desiree Anderson with her 14 kills and 11 digs to notch a double-double and Lauren Stefanski, who could not be stopped. She attacked at a .556 clip with 11 kills and only one error in 18 chances. She also provided three blocks for USF, which totaled 16 blocks on the night.

In Set 1, the story was a series of big runs. The Saints fell behind 4-0 out of the gate only to rally with eight of the next nine points. They would eventually take a 17-14 lead only to see that go by the wayside when Cardinal Stritch countered with a 9-1 run putting itself just two points away (23-18) from claiming the first set. The Wolves, however, tallied six attacking errors with an Abby Lab ace mixed in to lose the lead as well as the set.

Set 2 saw St. Francis open the early lead 6-2 and 13-9 before Cardinal Stritch knotted things up at 14. Leading 18-17, the Wolves would go on a closing 7-3 run to tie the match at one-all.

Set 3 also produced a tie at 14 before the Saints scored the next four points and never looked back. A tight 12-11 contest in Set 4 would turn into a blowout for St. Francis, which closed the match with 13 of the final 16 points.

Up Next
The Saints have the rest of the week off before traveling to Lincoln College next Tuesday night (Oct. 19) for a 7 pm conference contest.

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