ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Starting the day with a 3-2 nail-biting victory that showcased 37 tied scores against Friends University (Kan.) and finishing it with a comfortable 3-0 sweep over University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy (Mo.), the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team began the first day of the UHSP Eutectics Classic on a high note on Friday night.  With the two wins, the Fighting Saints move to 4-7 overall on the season.

USF def. Friends  (19-25, 25-22, 23-25, 28-26, 17-15)
After trailing for the bulk of the opening set, the Saints were able to knot the score at 12-12 before the Falcons responded quickly in recapturing 11 of the next 16 points to regain the lead and build their advantage to a 23-17 cushion.  St. Francis would garner the next two points, but the Saints could not contain the Falcon offense, who connected for a kill and service ace to close out the game and go up 1-0 in the match with the 25-19 victory.

St. Francis jumped out to a quick start in Set 2 with Riley Hungate and Alyssa Teske connecting for two kills and Cadence Wodrich authoring a solo block to secure a 5-1 advantage.  Friends (9-3) would claw its way back, however, and tie the game at 8-8 before the two squads showcased a point-trading battle that resulted in a 20-20 score.  Friends was able to capture some momentum after claiming the next two points, but two kills from Hungate and one from Emma Rodriguez along with a service ace from Maura Babuskow would put away the set in the Saints' favor, 25-22.

With the match tied 1-1, the intensity turned up in the third set with Friends jumping out to a quick 6-2 lead.  The Falcons looked to be in control at that point, but USF retaliated by discharging a 10-0 scoring explosion to jump ahead 12-6.  USF would hold its lead all the way to a comfortable 20-15 advantage, but a disastrous 9-1 run from FU enabled the Falcons to come within one point of victory (24-21).  The Saints made one final push, inching within one point at 24-23, but a Falcon kill on the next rally, however, would give Friends its final tally and finish the set off with a final score of 25-23.

USF continued to fight in the fourth set despite allowing its early 5-3 lead to slip away via a 4-1 Falcon run.  The game teetered out to a 10-10 score after both teams traded punches, but the Saints' offense looked to be too much for the Falcon defense as six of the next nine USF points would come via kills and service aces.  FU was able to seize some momentum back, tying the score five times at 21-21, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26, but St. Francis wiped that charge away benefiting from a FU error followed by a clutch block from Jenna Wasco and Delani Kirstein to finish out the set with a 28-26 win.

After starting off a little shaky and gifting Friends its first four points off offensive errors to mark the score at 4-2 in Set 5, St. Francis figured things out, and rattled off 11 of its final 15 points by means of kills off the hands of five separate players.  After the Saints bounced back to tie the score at 4-4, the game showcased six more nail-biting ties, with each team connecting for kills to keep the score within one point and eventually leading to a 15-15 tied score.  Kirstein and Celeste Zavala would add to the dramatics in the match's final two rallies with a clutch kill followed by a service ace, respectively, to prevail 17-15 in the fifth frame and win the match 3-2.

St. Francis finished the night with a .078 hitting percentage and was led in kills by Teske and Hungate with 14 apiece.  Hungate also topped the Saints with 18 digs, while Kirstein authored a team-best four block assists.  Landry Hall (21) and Talia Messana (19) paced the setters for a combined 40-assist performance.

USF def. UHSP  (25-22, 25-12, 25-13)
Teske took care of business at the net, registering 10 kills and producing a .273 attack percentage.  Olivia Cosgrove chipped in with three kills and committed just one attacking error leading to register a .333 attack mark.

Elif Kirbaser led the charge defensively as she authored a match-high three solo blocks.  Messana and Zavala topped the team in digs with 15 and 11, respectively.  Messana (12) and Hall (12) accounted for 24 of the team's 31 assists.

UHSP (0-9) jumped on top 10-6 in the first set before the Saints worked themselves back to a 13-13 score in the midst of a 6-0 scoring run forcing the Eutectics to call a time out.  The breather would backfire against UHSP and benefit USF as after the stoppage the Saints rattled off six kills and three service aces en route to the eventual 25-22 victory.

The second stanza was out of hand from the start with St. Francis showcasing a dominant presence to secure a monstrous 20-3 lead.  The Eutectics were able to regroup, winning nine of the final 14 rallies, but it was too little, too late with the Saints capturing the 25-12 victory.

The final frame saw St. Francis never relinquish the lead after producing an 8-2 start.  UHSP would come as close as four points (15-11), but it was then that USF took off on a 10-3 scoring run to finish the frame and seal the 25-13 victory.

Up Next
St. Francis will play again on Saturday in the final day of the UHSP Eutectics Classic.  USF will meet York University (Neb.) at 11 am, followed by a showdown with Evangel University (Mo.) at 1 pm.

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