Griffins Drop A Straight Set Outing Against Webster

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's volleyball team had its eyes set on handing Webster its first St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference loss, however, the Gorloks came away with the straight set (24-26, 14-25, 19-25) win.

Fontbonne (4-8; 3-5 SLIAC), ended the night with 35 kills and a .109 hitting percentage, but the team did commit 11 service errors.

Individually, Megan McKenzie led FBU with a team-high 10 kills and .389 hitting percentage. Megan Schaller finished with a team-high 15 assists, while Olivia Tallo contributed 12 digs.

Webster (9-3; 8-0 SLIAC), concluded with 39 kills and were especially strong on the defensive side of the net with its 63 digs. Libero Maria Soffner kept the Gorloks in it with her match-high 22 digs.

Offensively, Samantha Kruse and Samantha Budrovic each ended with eight kills, while Kelsey Hamann led them in assists with 19.

It was a battle from the opening service in the first set but it was the Griffins opening with a 12-8 lead on Kristina Eason's kill. They maintained its marginal lead of 16-13, until the Gorloks went on a 4-0 run to take the 17-16 advantage off consecutive Kruse kills.

The two teams met-up once again at 19-all, then Fontbonne went on a 3-0 run of its own to capture a 22-19 lead and that forced the WU coaching staff to take a timeout.

Out of the break, Fontbonne was clinging to a 24-23 lead, however, Webster responded with another 3-0 run, capped off by Kristen Farrah's service aces, giving them the opening set, 26-24.

Both squads performed well in the first frame with Webster totaling 15 kills, while FBU had a match-high 16 kills and a .224 hitting percentage.

In the second set, Webster took a 12-9 lead on Budrovich's kill. Later, a kill from Olivia Tallo narrowed the Gorlok's lead down to 16-12. It was all Webster the rest of the way though, closing out on a 9-2 run as they won the second set, 25-14.

In the third, Fontbonne this time around put Webster on its heels with a 7-3 lead on McKenzie's kill. Webster answered in a big way by going on a 7-1 run to take the lead back at 10-8 on another Budrovich kill.

They put some distance between themselves and Fontbonne after owning an 18-12 lead on Sarah Jacob's kill. A setting error by the Gorloks put FBU down just 22-18, however, the Gorloks were able to close out the set and the match, 25-19.

The Griffins will be back at it on Tuesday, September 26^th, as they'll take on Principia at home. First-serve 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.