BOURBONNAIS, Ill -- Extending its winning streak to four matches, the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team claimed a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference victory on Thursday night with its 3-1 win over Olivet Nazarene University.  With the 25-22, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19 four-set win, the Fighting Saints improve their overall record to 8-9 on the season and 5-2 in league play.

In an evenly-matched battle between the Saints and Tigers, St. Francis found themselves playing from behind midway through Set 1, as Olivet (4-15, 3-4 CCAC) rattled off five straight points to overtake the lead and win the race to 15 points at 15-11.  USF was quick to retaliate, however, immediately putting together a 7-1 run fueled by four kills and a block to jump ahead 18-16.  The Saints would continue to hoard the momentum on their side throughout the remainder of the frame, which was highlighted by a 6-2 scoring spurt to finish out the game and secure the 25-22 win.  Riley Hungate led all players with four kills in the set, closely followed by Delani Kirstein and Emma Rodriguez who each authored three.

Olivet built a 6-0 lead in the early stages of the second game, and expanded their advantage to six points over the next four rallies, looking to give the Tigers command of the set. St. Francis was able rally to tie the score on six separate occasions at 16-16, 19-19, 20-20, 21-21, 22-22 and 23-23, but ONU reclaimed their lead on the last two rallies with a kill followed by a block to snatch the 25-23 victory.

The third set mirrored the previous two with the game teetering back-and-forth for the duration of the frame, with both teams answering the other's offensive attacks.  St. Francis saw a 20-16 lead erased late in the frame as Olivet rallied on a 4-0 run to tie the game at 20-20, but the Saints were able to recapture their momentum, taking five of the set's remaining seven points to win 25-22.

Leading 2-1, the Saints started the fourth set motivated, with five different Saints recording kills in willing St. Francis to an early 11-3 lead.  ONU would respond and claim its next five points all off kills to mark the score at 12-8, but that's as close as the Tigers would get for the remainder of the set, as the Saints never relinquished more than a four-point lead.  Hungate (four kills), Kirstein (three), and Sarah Schmidt (three) carried St. Francis to the 25-19 win, with the trio accounting for 10 of USF's 13 kills in the stanza.

Hungate led the USF offense hitting .433 with a team-best 15 kills.  Kirsten finished the night with eight kills, and Rodriguez had six kills.  Alyssa Teske ended the match with 22 assists and 10 digs for a double-double, while Cadence Wodrich had six block assists in the win.  Mya Broadway captained the backrow for the Saints and finished with a match-high 22 digs.

Up Next
The Saints will take the court again on Tuesday, Sept. 30 when they travel to Davenport, Iowa to face the Bees of St. Ambrose University.  The match is set to begin at 7 pm in the Lee Lohman Arena.

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