LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Current NAIA No. 16-ranked Viterbo University (Wis.) hit .248 and produced 38 kills as the V-Hawks earned a 3-0 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference sweep (25-16, 25-15, 25-21) over the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team Tuesday evening at R.W. Beggs Senior Gymnasium in La Crosse, Wis. The loss dropped the Fighting Saints to 17-13 on the season, and 13-4 in league play.
Riley Hungate collected nine kills in the match, while
Delani Kirstein led the team with a .417 attack percentage.
Ann Simon authored a team-high 14 digs, while
Talia Messana and
Alyssa Teske split setting duties by registering 14 and 12 assists, respectively.
The two teams found themselves in a back-and-forth battle in the first frame as the score remained tied at 11-11 at the start. Viterbo would edge out the Saints in the race to 15 by securing four of the next seven rallies, but it was from there that the V-Hawks took off, authoring a 9-2 run to close out the set and win 25-16.
Viterbo (23-6, 17-0 CCAC) wasted no time in taking a strong 4-1 lead to start Set 2. The Saints were able to rally back from their early deficit thanks to two kills and a service ace from Hungate to come within two points at 9-7, but that would be as close as St. Francis would get with the V-Hawks keeping their composure and producing three more 4-1 scoring runs en route to their 25-15 victory.
In the final set, USF overpowered the hosts on the offensive end at the start, authoring four kills and a service ace in jumping out to an 11-4 lead. The Saints would score four more points off kills in helping to widen their lead to nine points at 19-10 before a disastrous 15-2 scoring explosion by the V-Hawks completely dismantled St. Francis' momentum and closed out the match with a 25-21 Set 3 USF loss.
Up Next
St. Francis will return home on Thursday (Nov. 6) for their final regular season match. The Saints will face conference foe Olivet Nazarene University at 7 pm in the Pat Sullivan Center.
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