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Saints volleyball falls to Skidmore on Senior Night

Posted 10/20/18

First-year Natalie Piper led the St. Lawrence University volleyball team with 17 kills and senior Grace Kelly added 13, but the Skidmore Thoroughbreds topped the Saints 3-1 on senior night in Liberty …

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Saints volleyball falls to Skidmore on Senior Night

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First-year Natalie Piper led the St. Lawrence University volleyball team with 17 kills and senior Grace Kelly added 13, but the Skidmore Thoroughbreds topped the Saints 3-1 on senior night in Liberty League play on Friday night in Burkman Gymnasium.

Third behind Piper and Kelly, Marissa Parker recorded nine kills, while Reagan Collier-Hogan recorded 19 digs and two service aces. Mac Barnes posted a season-high six blocks, while Amanda Teppo added four. Ally Good and Jenna Britton combined for 40 assists.

The Thoroughbreds claimed the first, third and fourth sets of the night by scores of 25-17, 25-23 and 25-22, while the Saints took the second set 25-22.

Out of the gate, Skidmore posted a 6-2 lead over St. Lawrence and never looked back. The Thoroughbreds posted an 8-1 run to lead 14-5 and despite a comeback effort from the Saints, sealed the set on a 4-1 run and a kill from Zoe Beals.

The Saints quickly gained momentum in the second set, leading 6-4 with a kill from Good and extending that lead to 12-9 with a kill from Julia Wagner. A 6-2 run gave the Saints a 20-14 advantage and Piper finished off the set with a kill to even the score at one.

In the third set, Collier-Hogan posted back-to-back service aces to give the Saints a 9-5 edge but after trading multiple point runs, the Thoroughbreds took a 19-17 lead on a attacking error from Kelly. Skidmore finished off the third set with four consecutive points for the 2-1 lead.

In the final set, Skidmore jumped out to a 6-1 lead and extended its streak to 14-8. The Saints rallied to bring the set within one (14-13) and regained control to tie the set at 17 and once more at 21 with a Thoroughbreds attacking error. A 4-1 run sealed the match for Skidmore.

"We got off to a very sloppy start and committed a lot of unforced errors," said head coach Shelly Roiger. "We weren't crisp at all in our execution in the first set which put us behind the eight ball instantly. Our second set and the majority of the third set was much better and we put ourselves in a position to go up 2-1. We had the serve and were up 23-21 when Skidmore called a timeout and were in the driver's seat, but then we allowed Skidmore to go on a 4-0 run to finish the set. To me, that was the turning point of the match. We came out tight in set four with our backs against the wall in what was a 'must have' match for both teams and we didn't handle that pressure well but we put ourselves in that position."

"Our team set four goals for the season and while this loss took us out of conference playoffs (which was one of the goals), the three others are still obtainable," Roiger continued. "We're disappointed that we won't be able to check this one off the list but we'll head into battle tomorrow ready to compete and accomplish our other three goals in the three remaining matches we have left in our season."

Katy Ehnstrom led Skidmore with 15 kills, while Caite Canfield recorded 14. Lauren Wolters posted a team-best 21 assists and two service aces, while Allie Dillon finished with 33 digs for the Thoroughbreds.

Despite the result of tonight's match, the Saints edged the Thoroughbreds in kills, 58-53, as well as service aces (5-4) and blocks (10-3). Skidmore finished with a 73-67 advantage in digs.

With the loss, the Saints fell to 17-8 on the season and 1-5 in conference play, while Skidmore improved to 17-9 and 3-3.

Before tonight's match, the Saints honored Class of 2019 members Good and Kelly.

St. Lawrence will host Union in its final home match of the season, tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.