LA CROSSE, Wis. --- Facing its toughest four-game stretch of the season, the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team dropped a pair of three-set decisions at the Viterbo University (Wis.) Fall Classic on Friday. 

The Saints opened against the hosts, falling 25-8, 25-22, 25-20 to the NAIA No. 8-ranked V-Hawks.  That was followed by a 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 setback to University of Saint Francis (Ind.), which is among others receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches' Poll.

Desiree Anderson paced the Saints offensively with her 18 kills, split evenly between the two matches.  Abby Lab (26 assists) and Hannah Pacheco (24) directed the offense.

On defense, Stephanie Woods posted seven blocks with Gabriela Oliveira next in line with five.  Oliveira also produced 13 kills.

Hannah Monfre was tops in digs with 21.

Match 1: Viterbo (Wis.) def. USF 25-8, 25-22, 25-18
Viterbo attacked at a .344 clip to improve to 19-6 on the season.  For the Saints, it was Anderson (9 kills) and Oliveira (seven) that led the offensive attack.  Lab registered the most assists with her 16.

Woods posted a team-best four blocks, while Leah Talley and Monfre each recorded seven digs.

Viterbo opened with nine of the first 12 points and then eased its way to the first-set victory with another 10-1 outburst.

The Saints (17-12) trailed by as many as five points midway through Set 2 (14-9), but rallied to force multiple ties before going up 21-20.  Viterbo, however, regrouped in time to score five of the final six points.

In Set 3, USF opened with the first three points before Viterbo went on a 7-1 run.  Unfazed, the Saints went back up 17-15 before Viterbo used an unanswered 6-0 outburst to re-take the lead at 21-17 and never trailed again.

Match 2: Saint Francis (Ind.) def. USF 25-22, 25-18, 25-19
The Saints struggled to find their offense throughout the match, finishing at a .056 mark, but still hung tough against their Indiana counterpart.

In Set 1, mini 4-0 surges were the story with Saint Francis (Ind.) getting two to USF's one to go up 1-0.

Nine ties and six lead changes made up Set 2.  Five unanswered points gave the Saints their biggest lead at 11-8.  But with the score knotted at 17-all, the Cougars (14-12) could not be stopped in a 7-1 run to close out the set.

In Set 3, Saint Francis (Ind.) built an early 10-5 lead and never trailed after that as the two teams went back and forth scoring two points at a time each. 

Anderson just missed a double-double with her team highs in both digs (16) and kills (9).  Pacheco's 14 sets were a club high with Lab adding 10 to the cause.

Peyton Baird, Cadence Wodrich and Woods each recorded three blocks.

Notes: The task gets no easier Saturday with the Saints facing No. 19 Montana Tech at 9 am and No. 24 Columbia College, Mo. at 1 pm … The two matches will close out an 11-game road trip for the Saints.

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