JOLIET, Ill. --- Despite a trio of double-doubles from Desiree Anderson, Kaylie Sippel and Gabriela Oliveira, the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team came up on the short end of a 25-20, 19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 18-16 back-and-forth Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference battle with Olivet Nazarene University on Tuesday night at the Sullivan Center.

Oliveira produced a match-high 19 kills to go along with her 13 digs, while Anderson claimed 18 kills and a team-best 16 digs.  Sippel gained her double-double via a career-best 51 assists and 14 digs, not to mention four blocks.

Other key players in the match for USF were Abby Sippel (14 digs), Taylor Connolly (11 kills, .321 attack pct.) and Cadence Wodrich (8 kills, 4 blocks).

The nearly two-hour-30-minute match featured 26 ties and 14 lead changes with eight ties and six lead changes in the deciding fifth set alone.

Set 1 included the most ties with ten, including knots at 14, 18, 19 and 20 before Olivet Nazarene (7-9, 5-4 CCAC) scored the final five points.

In Set 2, the Saints (6-14, 5-3) jumped out to a 4-0 advantage and led throughout.  Olivet Nazarene would pull to within 17-16 before St. Francis evened the match at one game apiece by scoring five of the final six points, including two off Anderson and Wodrich kills.

After yielding the first two points in Set 3, the Saints followed up with eight of the next nine markers to go up 8-3.  Again, Olivet Nazarene would tighten things up at 21-20 and 22-21 before Oliveira and Kaylie Sippel would deliver kills as part of a closing 3-0 run.

Set 4 saw St. Francis rally from a pair of large deficits, the first one coming after trailing 10-5.  A 7-1 burst courtesy of two kills from Oliveira and one each from Kylie Kany and Anderson forced a 14-all tie.  Olivet Nazarene then went up 23-19 before the Saints got back even at 23 with kills from Oliveira and Connolly.  ONU, however, forced the fifth game after netting the final two points.

In the fifth set, the Saints led 9-5 and 14-11 before Olivet Nazarene went on a 4-0 run to get to match point.  USF swayed the tide, creating its own match point by going up 16-15 before Olivet Nazarene scored the final three points to win 18-16.

Notes: Connolly's 11 kills were a career high as were Wodrich's eight … Anderson produced 18 kills for the second match in a row with both efforts being season highs … Kaylie Sippel's four blocks tied a career high … The double-doubles for Anderson and Kaylie Sippel were their seventh of the season, while Oliveira's was her fourth … The Saints are on the road this weekend at the Viterbo University (Wis.) Tournament, where they will face Rocky Mountain College (Mont.) and Waldorf University (Iowa) on Friday.   
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