Griffins Split Against Eureka And Westminster At The FBU Quad

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's volleyball team split its two games today of the FBU Quad as they defeated Eureka College in four sets (28-26, 25-27, 25-14, 25-23), but fell in straight sets against Westminster (19-25, 20-25, 20-25).

Fontbonne 3 Eureka 1

The Griffins played well from start-to-finish against Eureka. The team compiled a season-high 53 kills, a .222 hitting percentage and 62 digs.

Kristina Eason stood out with another double-digit performance of 12 kills and a team-high 17 digs. Emma Seiz and Victoria Curtice, meanwhile, came up with 10 kills each. Megan Schaller handed out 23 assists, while Claire Sease and Olivia Tallo added 16 and 10 digs respectively.

Eureka, meanwhile, finished with 49 kills and were paced by Anna Crank's match-high 17 kills and .263 hitting percentage. Heather Robinson and Beth Mickna also tied with 10 kills, while Meagan Hanney led them in the assist department with 28.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the first set but the Griffins grabbed the lead at 13-12 on a kill from Megan McKenzie. Later, the two teams met-up at 21-21 and then they went point-for-point the rest of the way with neither squad giving way.

Tied up at 26-26, Fontbonne got the lead back on a kill from Curtice. They went on to put away the Red Devils on a service aces from Olivia Tallo, winning 28-26.

In the second set, FBU trailed 9-8, however, a 5-0 run capped off by a kill from Seiz gave them a 13-9 advantage. They held that lead up until the Red Devils got it back at 21-20 on Heather Robinson's kill.

Eureka tried to fend off Fontbonne but the Griffins tied it on Eason's service aces, which forced the Red Devils to take a timeout. Later, FBU had the lead at 25-24 and had its eyes set on taking a two sets to none lead.

EC had other plans though, collecting the final three points and taking it 27-25 on a block assist from Beth Mickna and Anna Crank.

Fontbonne bounced back in a big way in the third. From the opening service it was all Griffins as they took an 11-6 lead on a Tallo service ace. The Red Devils narrowed it down to 16-13 on Robinson's kill, but that'd be as close as they'd get with FBU closing out on a 9-1 run, winning 25-14.

In the fourth set, the Red Devils owning a 10-4 lead as they had hopes of forcing a fifth and final set. However, back came FBU by going on a 6-0 run to tie it up at 10-10.

After tying it up at 18-18 on a Sease service ace, the Griffins got the lead for good at 19-18 on a Red Devils bad set. FBU was able to hang on from there, going on for the 25-23 set and match win.

Westminster 3 Fontbonne 0

Against the Blue Jays, Fontbonne closed out with 27 kills and 44 digs, but the team committed 11 reception errors.

Eason led with a team-high seven kills, while McKenzie and Olivia Tallo contributed six kills each. Schaller and Abby Grumich combined for 22 assists, while Sarah Borgerding compiled a match-high 19 digs.

The Blue Jays finished with 40 kills and a .229 hitting percentage. Ashley Kistaitis led with a match-high 12 kills, Teresa Becker totaled 33 assists, while Hannah Marshall led them defensively with 15 digs.

In the first set, FBU tied it up at 7-7 on Sease's service ace. Westminster though responded with a 6-0 run to gain some breathing room at 13-7. FBU narrowed it down to 19-16 later in the set on a Blue Jays service error, but WC was able to go on for the 25-19 set win.

In the second frame, it was Fontbonne this time around taking a 7-4 lead on Curtice's kill. Westminster, however, gathered themselves and captured the lead back at 13-9. The Blue Jays went on another 6-0 run, capped off by Natalie Needy's kill and that forced FBU to take a timeout.

Fontbonne tried to get back in it at 24-20 on McKenzie's kill but the Blue Jays halted any type of comeback on Marshall's kill to win, 25-20.

In the third, WC came on out on fire with a 10-3 lead. They expanded it out to 21-9, but Fontbonne wasn't giving up. The team continued to chip away at the lead and eventually got it down to 24-20 on three consecutive blocks. However, WC collected the final point on Teresa Becker's kill, winning the set and the match, 25-20.

FBU will be back at it in front of the home crowd on Wednesday, September 20^th, as they'll take on Blackburn. First-serve goes up at 7 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com throughout the year for full updates and recaps on the women's volleyball team.