JOLIET, Ill. -- The University of St. Francis women's volleyball team hosted a block party Tuesday night inside the Pat Sullivan Center, using one solo and 16 assisted blocks to sweep away visiting St. Ambrose University (Iowa) with a 3-0 win in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference competition. Junior Cadence Wodrich and senior Taylor Connolly combined for 10 rejections of St. Ambrose attacks, helping send the Fighting Saints to wins of 26-24, 25-14, 25-22.

The Saints dominated the net out of the gate in the first frame with blocks accounting for four resounding points off long rallies.  The match stayed even throughout the first half with neither team extending the lead beyond a three-point advantage until a Riley Hungate kill gave USF its largest lead of the set at 15-11.  St. Ambrose, however, would immediately benefit from five straight USF errors to take its first lead of the set at 16-15.  The Fighting Bees would hold the lead until a combined block from Alyssa Teske and Wodrich tied the game at 23-23.  With USF finding itself down 24-23 and one point away from a first-set loss, Connolly would spoil SAU's first match point with a decisive kill to net the score at 24-24.  She would duplicate the effort two points later with another energetic kill to solidify the 26-24 Set 1 win for the Saints.

St. Francis (11-9, 3-1 CCAC) wasted no time in flexing some muscle over the competition in Set 2, racing out to a 10-5 lead. The Saints eventually extended the advantage by as many as 10 points before settling in for the 11-point victory at 25-14.  USF totaled 12 kills in the stanza, led by Alyssa Teske's three, while Connolly authored four block assists.

St. Ambrose (5-10, 0-3) put up its biggest fight at the start of the third set, grabbing an early 7-4 lead.  The Saints narrowed the gap to 12-11 and, after trailing 18-17, rattled off an impressive 5-1 run to surge ahead 22-19.  The run featured a solo block from Connolly as well as a powerful kill from Desiree Anderson. The Fighting Bees made the Saints earn the win, however, clawing back to within two points, before another Connolly kill on match point gave USF the 25-22 victory as well as the 3-0 sweep.

St. Francis had a season-best 15 kills in the final set, while Set 2 featured an impressive .379 attack efficiency.  The Saints finished with a resounding 40 kills on offense and 42 digs on defense.  Along with Connolly and Wodrich's 10 combined blocks, Sophie Knazur and Teske each finished the match with three block assists apiece, while Hungate chipped in one.  

Offensively, Anderson collected a team-high 11 kills, while Wodrich posted a match-best .500 attack percentage.  Kaylie Sippel and Teske split the setting duties, each registering 15 assists apiece.  Celeste Zavala manned the USF backcourt with 14 total digs.

St. Francis extended its all-time series lead against St. Ambrose to a 13-8 margin with Tuesday's win also marking the sixth 3-0 USF sweep between the two squads. The teams will play again in Davenport, Iowa on November 7 in the regular-season finale.

Next Up
The Saints have a week-long break before suiting up again next Tuesday in a CCAC face-off against Calumet College of St. Joseph.  The match will begin at 7 pm in Joliet.

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