Joliet, Ill. - The University of St. Francis women's volleyball team picked up its first two wins of the season on Saturday via 3-0 and 3-1 victories to close out the second day of the Big Dogs Classic hosted by the Fighting Saints at the Pat Sullivan Center.  USF (2-2) started the day with a 3-0 win over Bluefield College (Va.) (25-17, 25-23, 25-17) and carried that momentum over into the second match with a strong 3-1 victory over Mount Mercy University (Iowa) (25-27, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23).

University of St. Francis vs. Bluefield College
After allowing the first three points to Bluefield, the Saints quickly fought back to tie the match at seven-all on a service ace from junior Riley Hungate.  St. Francis would never relinquish the lead from that point forward as they cruised to a 25-17 victory in Set 1.  Set 2 would be a back-and-forth battle as there would be nine lead changes and 10 ties throughout the affair.  The Saints would edge out the Rams in the end, however, after capitalizing on two high-energy kills from freshman Sophie Knazur to close out the set 25-22.  St. Francis would ride that wave of momentum into Set 3 as it cruised to a comfortable 25-17 final score.  In total, USF put on an impressive offensive showing in the match, boasting a combined .380 attack percentage and totaling 49 kills between the three sets.   

University of St. Francis vs. Mount Mercy University
The second match of the day saw St. Francis in a crunch, staring in the face of a 1-0 deficit after losing a hard-fought contest to the Mustangs in the first set, 27-25.  The Saints would soon mount a comeback over the remaining three sets with the offensive aid of Desiree Anderson (18 kills, 16 digs) and Hungate (13 kills, 12 digs) to secure the USF victory.  The fourth set, in particular, provided some dramatics as both teams swapped jabs, never scoring more than two or three points in a row until the 15-15 mark when both teams posted five-point swings.  Anderson and junior Cadence Wodrich teamed up to put the match away in dominant fashion, taking credit for each of the Saints' last five points via kills to solidify the final 25-23 score.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Senior Abby Lab recorded 40 assists on the day, including tying a career-high with 22 vs. Mount Mercy
• Anderson led the Saints in kills with a combined 32
• Hungate, Anderson, Lab, Ann Simon and Kaylie Sippel all registered double-digit dig counts in the two combined matches
• Taylor Connolly posted an attack percentage of .526 (11 kills, 1 error, 19 chances) against Bluefield, which marks the second highest showing of her career

UP NEXT
St. Francis will travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa next Friday, August 30 to compete in the William Penn University Labor Day Classic.  USF will take on Culver-Stockton College (3:00 pm) and Hannibal-LaGrange University (7:00 pm) on day one of the tournament, followed by matchups against Waldorf University (9:00 am) and Graceland University (1:00 pm) on Saturday.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.