BOURBONNAIS, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis women's volleyball team went to battle against Olivet Nazarene University in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Tuesday night, fighting the Tigers until the final set.  A rally, however, in the fifth game did not last as the Fighting Saints dropped a 27-25, 21-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13 decision.   With the five-set defeat, St. Francis falls to 15-14 on the year, while moving to 6-3 in CCAC play.

After trailing for the bulk of the opening set, the Saints gained their first lead of the evening after a combination of eight separate hitters pushed the score to 18-17.  The Tigers responded quickly with five kills and a service ace to recapture the lead and build their advantage to a 23-21 cushion.  Two straight errors by Olivet Nazarene would get the Saints back in the match, knotting the set at 23 apiece.  St. Francis would then be the first to gain the 24th point, but the Saints could not contain Tiger outside hitter Halle Nicholas, who connected for three straight kills to go up 1-0 in the match with the 27-25 victory.

Leading the entirety of the way, St. Francis left no doubt in the second set as three Sophie Knazur kills were part of six consecutive points that pushed USF in front 12-5.  Alyssa Teske connected for a kill and authored a block assist with Cadence Wodrich to regain a seven-point advantage (22-15) after ONU clawed back to within three points.  Olivet was able to capture some momentum after putting together a 6-1 run to pull within two points at 23-21, but a kill from Taylor Connolly and a service ace by Riley Hungate would put away the set in the Saints' favor, 25-21.

With the match tied 1-1, the intensity turned up in the third set with St. Francis jumping out to a quick 5-0 lead.  The Saints looked to be in control at that point, but ONU slowly worked its way back to come within one point at 14-13.  USF would hold its lead despite a pair of Olivet charges and gradually pushed its advantage to four points with a pair of kills from Teske aiding the cause.  Coming out of a timeout and leading 22-20, St. Francis was able to go in front by three points, but the Tigers made one final push, inching within two at 24-22. A Teske kill would give the Saints their final point and finish the set off with a final score of 25-23.

USF continued to fight in the fourth set despite allowing its early 5-2 lead slip away via a 5-0 Tiger run.  The game teetered out to a 10-10 score after both teams traded punches, but the ONU offense proved to be too much for the Saint defense as 10 of the next 15 Tiger points would come via kills.  USF was able to capture some momentum back, coming within one point at 17-16, but Olivet Nazarene wiped that charge away with an 8-1 run to finish out the set with a 25-17 win.

After starting off strong, St. Francis hit a bump in the fifth set, allowing ONU to build a 9-4 lead to break a 4-4 tie.  Undeterred, the Saints used a 6-2 run to put the score at 11-10.  The race to 15 was tight with each team connecting for kills to keep the score within one point.  Desiree Anderson and Wodrich would add to the dramatics with a clutch block to tie things up at 13-13, but the rally cry was not enough as the Tigers benefited from two Saint attacking errors to prevail 15-13 in the fifth set and win the match 3-2.

St. Francis finished the night with a .161 hitting percentage and was led in kills by Knazur with 12. Anderson topped the Saints with 28 digs in the defeat, while Wodrich authored a team-best five block assists.  Kaylie Sippel paced the setters with an impressive 26-assist, 10-dig double-double, marking her 13th double-double of the season.

Up Next
St. Francis will have a week of rest before it hits the road again, this time traveling to Chicago on Oct. 22 to face-off against Saint Xavier University.  The match is scheduled to begin at 7 pm at the Shannon Center.
 
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