The St. Lawrence University volleyball team hung on against SUNY Potsdam on Wednesday evening, defeating the Bears 3-1 (25-11, 22-25, 25-22, 26-24) in the Burkman Gymnasium for their fourth straight win. Rookie Maddy Ruehl led the Saints with a solid 13-kill outing, while captain Jenna Street had 21 assists and 10 digs for the home team. Potsdam was led by Liza Field's seven kills.

St. Lawrence improves to 5-3 overall while the Bears, who lost to the Saints during the Victory Promotions Invitational by the same score this past weekend, fall to 3-4.

"We had an awesome first set and came out sharp but then we lost our focus in the second set and allowed Potsdam to dictate play," said St. Lawrence head coach Shelly Roiger. "After another slow start in the third set, we battled back and showed a lot of grit and character in the 25-22 win. An injury early in the fourth set tested our resiliency and I'm very proud of the way our team showed their 'refuse to lose' mental toughness. It wasn't the prettiest win for our program but it showed a lot of character."

The Saints escaped with the win despite committing 47 unforced errors throughout the match. Ruehl led the way offensively, coming up with several timely kills, four aces and two key block assists. Lexi Brown chipped in 11 kills, Katie Kull had 16 assists and Marisa Turner added 10 digs.

Potsdam's Rachel Topf had 21 assists for the Bears, while Gabby Arana had a team-best 10 digs. Potsdam was hurt by unforced errors as well, committing a total of 39.

St. Lawrence cruised to an impressive first set win of 25-11, rushing out to a 12-3 lead behind a dynamic offense and never looking back. However, it was Potsdam who raced out to a big cushion in the second set behind the service of Gabby Arana as the Bears scored seven straight points to take a 10-2 lead. The Saints chipped away throughout the set, scoring 9-of-10 points to close the gap to two, and eventually tied the score at 20-20. The Bears would rattle off the next four points thanks to kills from Annie Smith and Kelsea Healis, taking the second 25-22 and leveling the match at 1-1.

Though the Bears again held a lead in the third up 13-5, St. Lawrence would again dig out of the hole thanks to a five-point run. Potsdam was able to keep a narrow lead intact until the Saints again scored 7-of-8 points behind six Bear errors to take a 22-19 advantage. Leading 23-22, kills from Cristina Deschaine and Amanda Brooks gave St. Lawrence the tight 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set was a back-and-forth affair again, with Potsdam holding a 14-11 lead before St. Lawrence rattled off six straight points on Turner's serve to go up 17-14. Potsdam drew even at 21-21 after a St. Lawrence error and a kill by Fields, and would score three straight to go up 24-23 on a kill by Healis. Serving for the set, Potsdam couldn't close it out, as Ruehl delivered a crucial kill to tie the score at 24-24. An attack error by Potsdam was followed by a kill by Brown to solidify the 26-24 win and the 3-1 victory.

St. Lawrence will hit the road this weekend to compete in the 2014 Oswego Invitational, with matches on Friday and Saturday, September 12 and 13.