JOLIET, Ill. -- In a nail-biting 3-2 victory that showcased 36 tied scores against Saint Xavier University, the University of St. Francis women's volleyball team polished off their first Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference win of the 2026 season in dramatic fashion at the Pat Sullivan Center on Tuesday night. The 23-25, 25-19, 27-29, 25-17, 15-13 five set win ups USF's record to 2-6 on the year and 1-1 in league play.
Leading for the bulk of the opening set, the Saints were able to win the race to 15 with a five-point advantage (15-10) over the guests before the Cougars responded quickly in capturing 12 of the next 16 points to seize the lead and build their advantage to a 22-19 cushion. St. Francis would claim four of the next five rallies to tie the score at 23-23, but the Saints could not contain the Cougar offense, who connected for a kill to close out the game and go up 1-0 in the match with the 25-23 victory.
The beginning of Set 2 was riddled with errors amongst both squads before back-to-back kills from
Delani Kirstein and
Alyssa Teske kickstarted a 7-0 USF scoring run which resulted in an 18-12 advantage for the Saints. Saint Xavier (0-11, 0-2 CCAC) would claw its way back, however, and come to within two points (20-18), but five subsequent attacking errors from the visitors would put away the set in the Saints' favor, 25-19.
With the match tied 1-1, the intensity turned up in the third set with Saint Xavier jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead. SXU would hold its lead all the way to a comfortable 23-18 advantage, but a strong 7-1 run from USF enabled the Saints to tie the score after a clutch kill from Teske. The Saints made one final push, including being one point from victory at 27-26, but two straight kills followed by a USF attacking error, would give Saint Xavier its final three tallies and finish the set off with a final score of 29-27.
In Set 4, Saint Xavier quickly saw its early 2-0 lead slip away via an 11-4 St. Francis run. The game teetered out to a five-point differential after both teams traded punches, but the Saints' offense was able to seize some momentum back late in the set with two kills and a loud game-ending block from
Emma Rodriguez and
Aubrey Phillips to finish out the set with a 25-17 win.
After starting off a little shaky and seeing Saint Xavier register four kills to mark the score at 5-2 in Set 5, St. Francis figured things out, and rattled off five of its final 13 points by means of kills off the hands of five separate players. After the Saints bounced back to tie the score at 5-5, 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 13-13 tied score. The Saints would then take advantage of consecuative attacking errors from SXU to prevail 15-13 in the fifth frame and win the match 3-2.
St. Francis finished the night with a .117 hitting percentage and was led in kills by Kirstein (15) and Teske (12).
Maura Babuskow topped the Saints with 18 digs, while Phillips authored a team-best seven block assists.
Landry Hall (24) and
Kennedy Walker (18) paced the setters for a combined 42-assist performance.
Up Next
The Saints will take the court again on Thursday, Sept. 10 when they travel to Elgin, Ill. to face the Eagles of Judson University. The match is set to begin at 7 pm in the Lindner Fitness Center.
You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.
