La CROSSE, Wis. --- NAIA No. 19-ranked Montana Technological University and No. 24 Columbia College (Mo.) proved to be too much for the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team on the second day of play at the Viterbo University (Wis.) on Saturday as both teams came away with three-set victories.  Montana Tech notched a 25-7, 25-14, 25-21 victory in the morning session with Columbia capturing a 25-18, 25-18, 25-13 win in the afternoon.

St. Francis leaders on the day included Gabriela Oliveira and Taylor Connolly with 11 kills each.  Hannah Pacheco provided 20 assists, while Desiree Anderson compiled 26 digs.

Match 1: Montana Tech def. USF 25-7, 25-14, 25-21
Montana Tech (20-6) never trailed in the match, jumping out to 6-0, 10-4 and 9-2 leads in each of the three sets and never looked back.

Anderson, Oliveira, Connolly and Stephanie Woods all recorded five kills in the match with Pacheco dishing out 12 assists.  Anderson added 14 digs on defense, where Hannah Monfre paced the Saints with her 16 digs.

Match 2: Columbia (Mo.) def. USF 25-18, 25-18, 25-13
Oliveira and Connolly took home top attacking honors with six kills each, while Anderson doubled that count in the dig department with her 12.  On the assist front, Pacheco was credited with eight sets and Abby Lab seven.

The Saints (17-14) gained an early 7-4 advantage to open the match before Columbia went on an 8-1 run to take a 12-8 lead.  USF fought back to force a tie at 14-all and was down by only an 18-16 count when Columbia delivered seven of the final nine points.

In each of the other two sets, Columbia (18-9) opened up 9-3 and 12-5 leads en route to the victory.

Notes: St. Francis concluded its longest road trip of the year going 5-6 … The Saints struggled to get their offensive game going throughout the weekend, finishing the four-match set attacking at just a .063 clip … The four-match losing streak is the longest of the year for USF … The Saints close out their regular season with four of their final five matches being played at the Sullivan Center beginning Thursday night when they face St. Ambrose University in a 7 pm contest.

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