JOLIET, Ill. -- Paced by an efficient offense and strong defensive presence, the University of St. Francis volleyball team authored its second sweep in a row Tuesday night, defeating Indiana University Northwest 25-22, 25-11, 27-25 in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action.  The Fighting Saints' quick victory improved their season record to 11-11 overall, while they jumped to 7-2 in league play.

The RedHawks (9-15, 5-4 CCAC) started off strong in the first set, using four straight kills to jump out to a 7-5 lead. After a IUN service error, the Saints swung the momentum back in their favor in dominating fashion utilizing eight kills and two service aces over the next twenty rallies to overtake the lead at 17-15 and forcing the Indiana Northwest to take a timeout.  The two teams swapped points after the breather before Emma Rodriguez broke out with back-to-back kills followed by a service ace from Alyssa Teske to give the Saints their largest lead of the game at 22-17.  The RedHawks bounced back with four points of their own to come to within one point (22-21), but St. Francis stepped the pedal back to the floor with kills from Jenna Wasco and Delani Kirstein to close out the first set on top 25-22.

With a 1-0 lead established, the Saints wasted little time building a lead in the second set, as Riley Hungate and Wasco scored early kills to grow a 7-0 lead.  Teske got involved as she added a pair of kills to push the USF advantage to twelve points at 16-4, as the Saints showed little signs of slowing down.  An authoritative kill after a near-minute long rally from Hungate pushed St. Francis to a 21-9 lead, and Teske and Kirstein helped finish the win, with the two players combining for three kills as part of a 4-2 run, finalizing the score at 25-11.

Indiana Northwest answered St. Francis in the third set by matching the Saints point-for-point to produce a 4-4 tie after the eighth rally of the set.  Teske and Rodriguez helped keep St. Francis in the game, connecting for four kills between the two to build a 10-5 USF lead.  Attacking errors plagued the Saints over the next 30 rallies to help Indiana Northwest work its way back to a 23-23 tied score, but the RedHawks would return the favor with four offensive errors of their own to close out the set, giving the Saints the 27-25 win and the 3-0 sweep.

The Saints racked up 42 kills on the night on offense, hitting .204 as a team.  Hungate (12) and Teske (11) led the team in kills during the match, with Teske leading all players with a .476 hitting percentage.  Ann Simon ended with 13 digs on the night, and Rodriguez and Cadence Wodrich each registered a solo block.

Up Next
The Saints will take the court again on Thursday, Oct. 9 when they travel to Elgin, Ill. to face the Eagles of Judson University.  The CCAC match is set to begin at 7 pm in the Lindner Fitness Center.

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