BOURBONNAIS, Ill. ---- Looking to end its week perfect and remain unbeaten in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) play, the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team came up just short, dropping a five-set thriller to Olivet Nazarene 24-26, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18, 15-10 on Saturday night at McHie Arena.
 

With the victory, ONU stayed perfect on the season at 6-0 with all six wins coming in league play. USF saw its four-match winning streak come to an end, leaving the Saints at 5-3 overall and 2-1 in conference action.
 

In the opening set, neither team could gain more than a four-point edge. USF held a 21-17 lead late only to have Olivet Nazarene force a tie at 24 before the Saints closed out the game with the final two points.
 

Set 2 played out to a similar story, but with Olivet Nazarene holding the later lead (17-12). That eventually disintegrated with St. Francis rallying for a 23-22 advantage only to have the Tigers score the final three points to even the match at one game apiece.
 

USF then used a 6-0 run in Set 3 to turn a 16-15 edge into a 22-15 advantage, which was the biggest lead for either team up to that point in the match. Three different Saints produced kills to end the game, allowing St. Francis to go into Set 4 leading two games to one.
 

In Set 4, head coach Cara Currier's club rallied from a 15-11 deficit to knot the score at 15. Olivet Nazarene, however, forced the fifth set by going on a closing 10-3 run.
 

The Tigers added another 7-1 run in Set 5 to turn a 4-3 deficit into a lead the Saints would never challenge the rest of the way.
 

Lauren Stefanski (SR/Plainfield, Ill.) led a contingent of five Saints that tallied no less than seven kills. She also attacked at a .320 clip.
 

Katie Szakacs (SR/ Munster, Ind.) did the same in the dig category. She was one of four USF players to record double figures in that column, finishing with 30 digs.
 

Freshman Desiree Anderson (Joliet, Ill.) and Stephanie Woods (JR/Westchester, Ill.) were strong at the net with each producing one solo block and three assist blocks.
 

Alexis Engst (JR/Bloomington, Ill.) and Hannah Pacheco (SO/Lockport, Ill.) directed the offense with 21 and 17 assists, respectively.
 

Olivet Nazarene countered with three players authoring 11 or more kills. The Tigers also totaled 10 aces.
 

USF closed out a stretch of four matches in three days going 3-1. The Saints continue conference play on Tuesday when they travel to Elgin to face Judson University at 7 pm.