The St. Lawrence University volleyball team picked up a 3-1 non-conference victory over Plattsburgh State on Tuesday night in the team's final home match of the season in the Burkman Gymnasium. Senior captain Jenna Street had 26 assists and 15 digs, while Cristina Deschaine and Becky Briggs combined for 20 kills and only six errors to pace the offense.

The Saints, now 19-10 on the season, had a match-high 11 kills from Lexi Brown and Mariah Dignan chipped in five service aces and 14 digs. Maddy Ruehl added eight kills, while St. Lawrence closed with a sound 17-7 advantage in blocks en route to the 25-10, 26-28, 25-21, 25-18 win. The Cardinals (5-15) were paced by Maggie Schrantz's 10 kills, while Jordynne Ales had a team best 13 digs.

"It's always a challenge to defeat Plattsburgh and tonight was no exception. After dominating the first set, Plattsburgh forced us to increase our level of play and we once again lost our 'killer instinct' and dropped set two," said Saints head coach Shelly Roiger. "I thought our service game and defense won the match for us tonight and our serve receive overall kept us in system."

St. Lawrence cruised in the opening game after building a 14-4 lead behind the service of Dignan. Plattsburgh wouldn't get within nine points, as the home team closed out the game strong winning 25-10.

The Cardinals took an early advantage in the second set, but a 9-1 run gave St. Lawrence the momentum up 13-8. Rebecca Doser had two kills, while Masha Kolesnikova and Street helped push the lead to five. Despite facing a 20-14 deficit, Plattsburgh rallied with a 5-1 run to claw within two then rattled off four straight points thanks to Schrantz to take a 23-22 lead. The two North Country rivals exchanged points until 26-26, when kills from Noelle Miller and Schrantz gave the visitors the dramatic 28-26 win to tie the match at 1-1.

St. Lawrence rebounded quickly in the third, building an 11-4 lead only to see the Cardinals once again rally to finally pull within two at 18-16. Brown came through with two big kills, followed by two kills and an ace from Deschaine to clinch the game 25-21 for St. Lawrence.

Needing a win in the fourth, Plattsburgh came out strong and took advantage of several St. Lawrence miscues to take an 11-8 lead. Street would answer with a five-point service run to give the Saints the lead at 13-11, and though Plattsburgh hung around in the set, Deschaine's solo block gave the Saints a 20-17 advantage. She then rattled off four points on service, with two kills from Ruehl and two Plattsburgh errors to bring the score to 24-17. After a kill from Schrantz, Briggs put it away with a kill for the 25-18 victory.

"We'll need to play at a much, much higher level this weekend when each and every league match is a must-win for goals we have in the regular season standings," added Coach Roiger. "We're tired of 'almost', 'coulda's', and 'shoulda's' from the season. It's late October and it's time to walk our talk. I'm looking forward to an outstanding two days of practice and what will be a very exciting and intense gym-atmosphere at Union and Skidmore with all five teams in attendance battling for their spot in the playoff picture."

Tuesday's match was the team's final tune-up for the last Liberty League cross over weekend, which will be held in Schenectady, NY and Saratoga Springs, NY this Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25. The Saints will look to clinch a playoff spot with matches against Skidmore, RIT, Union and nationally-ranked Clarkson.