Women's Volleyball Posts Season-High Marks In Win Over Blackburn

ST. LOUIS, Mo.— The Fontbonne University women's volleyball team picked up a split at the Fontbonne Quad. The Griffins fell in straight sets (17-25, 14-25, 22-25) against Webster, but answered with a four-set (25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-17) win over Blackburn.

Webster 3 Fontbonne 0

Against the Gorloks, the Griffins (9-13; 8-8 SLIAC), finished with 32 kills, a .134 hitting percentage and 41 digs.

Maura Rabun led with seven kills, while Victoria Curtice and Kristina Eason had six each. Karsyn Kulick contributed five kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Megan Schaller handed out 15 assists and led them in the dig department with 11.

Webster (17-7; 15-2 SLIAC), concluded with 47 kills, a .314 hitting percentage, 57 digs, and 14 block assists. Individually, Torie Grassi led them offensively with 11 kills and a .435 hitting percentage.

Kelsey Hamann led with a match-high 21 assists, while Kristen Farrah paced them defensively with 17 digs.

It was back-and-forth early in the first set, but a kill from Kulick tied it up at 12-12. Later in the set, the Griffins trimmed it down to 20-17 on Rabun's kill, though the Gorloks collected the final five points for the 25-17 win.

In the second, a kill from Megan McKenzie put the Griffins down 10-8. Despite the Griffins totaling nine kills and just two errors in the set, the Gorloks couldn't be slowed down with a match-high 19 kills and that allowed them to go on for the 25-14 victory.

In the third, a block assist from Kulick and Rabun narrowed the Webster lead to 11-9. Webster went on to stretch its lead to 20-14 on a Griffins attack error and that forced Fontbonne to take a timeout.

Out of the break, the team continued to chip away at the lead as a kill and a service ace from Rabun made it 24-22. However, a Fontbonne attack error gave Webster the 25-22 set and match win.

Fontbonne 3 Blackburn 1

In game two, the Griffins had themselves a match. The team totaled a season-high 52 kills in a four-set match, 10 service aces, and a season-high 86 digs.

Offensively, Curtice recorded her fourth double-double with a season-high 14 kills and 14 digs. Kristina Eason ended with 10 kills and a career-high 26 digs, while Rabun had nine kills and zero errors for a .474 hitting percentage.

Abby Grumich led with 26 assists, while Sarah Borgerding had a season-high mark for herself with 20 digs.

Blackburn (6-19; 6-11 SLIAC), totaled 49 kills and a .118 hitting percentage. Kendall Knop finished with a team-high 13 kills and 12 digs.

In the first set, after Alanni Young put the Beavers down 9-6, the Griffins took off with a 7-0 run on four straight kills from Curtice.

The Griffins were up 22-17, but the Beavers answered with a 5-0 run to tie it. The two teams traded points, but consecutive attack errors gave Fontbonne the 25-23 win.

Fontbonne started out well once again in the second with a 13-7 lead on Schaller's kill. The two teams went on to trade a couple lead changes, though the Griffins pulled away and were at match point with a 24-21 advantage on Rabun's kill.

Blackburn continued to battle and eventually evened up the score, 25-25. A kill from Young and a service ace from Lucy Magnussen put Blackburn on top 27-25 for the win.

In the third, three straight kills from Curtice, Rabun, and Kulick put the Griffins ahead, 13-10. The team maintained its lead the rest of the way with Curtice and Eason finishing it off with kills for the 25-22 victory.

It was all Fontbonne in the finale as they took a 15-9 lead on Rabun's kill. The team fended off Blackburn the rest of the way for the 25-17 set and match win.

The Griffins return to action on the road next Wednesday at Iowa Wesleyan. First-service 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.

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