GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. --- The University of St. Francis women's volleyball team used a never-quit attitude to notch a pair of victories at the Aquinas College (Mich.) Classic on Friday, first rallying to defeat host Aquinas in five games before sweeping William Penn University (Iowa) in the nightcap to open the season.

Back and forth the Saints and Aquinas went in their match, which ended in a 14-25, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10 victory for USF.  In the nightcap, St. Francis had to rally in both the second and third sets to come away with a 25-21, 29-27, 25-23 victory.

There were plenty of contributors up and down the lineup for head coach Cara Currier's squad in the two matches topped by Desiree Anderson's 20 kills and 27 digs and Hannah Pacheco's 30 assists, 19 digs and 7 service aces.  Kaylie Sippel was right behind with 29 assists, while Taylor Connolly provided 15 kills and Stephanie Woods totaled nine blocks.

Match 1: USF def. Aquinas 14-25, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10
Anderson and Sippel each authored double-doubles with Anderson accumulating 11 kills and 13 digs, while Sippel amassed 17 assists and 11 digs.  Pacheco added 10 assists, four aces and nine digs.  Gabriela Oliveira (11 digs) and Hannah Monfre (nine) were two of five Saints to produce at least nine digs, while Woods collected four aces and three blocks.

Aquinas dominated Set 1 aided by a 17-4 run.  In Set 2, neither team led by more than three points before the Saints put up six in a row fueled by a pair of aces from Pacheco and kills from Oliveira, Connolly and Woods.  Aquinas followed with its own 6-0 run before the Saints evened out the match with kills from Woods and Anderson to end the 12-tie, 3-lead change set.

USF trailed 10-4 and 14-8 in Set 3 before going on an 11-2 run to go up 19-16.  A 19-all tie followed before kills from Connolly and Anderson and an ace by Woods put the Saints back up 22-19.  Peyton Baird and Oliveira then ended it with back-to-back kills.

In Set 4, Aquinas opened up a 6-1 lead at the start before St. Francis rallied twice to go up 8-7 and 16-15.  But five straight points midway through the match by the hosts eventually led them to the 25-21 Set 4 victory.

The Saints also fell behind out of the gates in Set 5, trailing 7-2, before scoring 10 of the next 11 points and never looked back in the come-from-behind victory.  A kill and an ace from Anderson and kills by Connolly, Oliveira and Cadence Wodrich propelled the Saints' rally.

Match 2: USF def. William Penn 25-21, 29-27, 25-23
No less than five Saints posted at least seven kills with both Connolly and Baird attacking without error.  Connolly connected on eight of her 12 attempts with Baird going 7-for-10.  Pacheco provided 20 of the team's 39 assists to go along with 10 digs and three aces for her first double-double of the season.  Woods added seven kills and six blocks for the winners, while Anderson had a match-high 14 digs.

The Saints opened up an 8-2 lead at the start of the first set before William Penn tightened things up.  A kill from Connolly and an ace by Monfre closed out the set to put USF up 1-0.

William Penn looked to take Set 2, leading 24-21 and having four chances at securing the game-winning point.  But the Saints rallied from a 7-3 shortfall early and the 24-21 deficit late with Oliveira putting the exclamation point on the set victory with three straight kills.

In Set 3, USF again trailed late (22-18) before closing out the match by securing seven of the final eight points.  A pair of kills from Baird and one each from Connolly and Woods keyed the final burst.

Other Notes: Leah Talley and Wodrich both made their collegiate debuts on Friday, while Oliveira played in her first two matches as a Fighting Saint.  Talley finished the day with four digs, Wodrich totaled three kills, three assist blocks and one dig and Oliveira netted 12 kills and 16 digs … The Saints close out play at the Aquinas Classic on Saturday facing Bethel University (Ind.) at 10 am and Madonna University (Mich.) at 2 pm.