Women's Volleyball Falls In Its Home Opener, Gallagher and Fitzgerald Record Double-Doubles

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's volleyball team had its home opener on Wednesday night and despite taking the opening set from Westminster, the Blue Jays bounced back winning the next three for the four-set victory.

Final: Westminster 3, Fontbonne 1

(14-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-21)

Set Breakdown

Set 1: The Griffins came out on fire in the first opening with a 14-7 lead after kills from Hannah Gallagher, Jadyn Fitzgerald, and a Blue Jays attack error. The team cruised on from there going on for the dominant 25-14 win.

The Blue Jays were limited to six kills and six errors on 34 swings, while Fontbonne fared much better with its 16 kills on 39 attempts for a .282 hitting percentage.

Set 2: The Blue Jays led 15-11 but the Griffins went on a 6-2 run with consecutive kills from Hannah Gallagher tying it up, 17-17. The back-and-forth play continued, though the Griffins grabbed a 25-24 advantage on another kill from Gallagher.

However, the Blue Jays finished the set off on a 3-0 run to hang on for the 27-25 victory. Westminster had its best set on the night with a game-high 17 kills and .250 hitting percentage. Fontbonne reached double-digit kills once again with 12 and a .263 hitting percentage.

Set 3: After narrowing advantages on both sides in the third to start, the Blue Jays pulled away at the midway point to lead 16-10 on Payton Bledsoe's kill.

The Griffins continued to chip away at the deficit going on a 13-7 run to make it all even at 23-23 on Gallagher's kill. A service error by Fontbonne and an attack error allowed the Blue Jays to fend off the Griffins for the 25-23 win.

Westminster ended with seven kills and a .208 hitting percentage. The Griffins, meanwhile, had its struggles with 12 kills and 12 errors for a .000 hitting percentage.

Set 4: In the fourth, consecutive service aces from Eryka Wanyoni put the Blue Jays on top, 14-9. Westminster continued to hold onto its marginal lead but a 3-0 run by Fontbonne put them down 22-21 on Fitzgerald's kill and that forced the Westminster staff to take a timeout.

Out of the break, the Blue Jays gathered themselves closing out on a 3-0 run for the 25-21 set and match win.

Head-to-Head

• Statistically, the Griffins totaled 55 kills, while setting new season-highs in hitting percentage (.178) and assists (52).
• Defensively, the team accumulated 67 digs.
• Westminster ended with 39 kills and a .159 hitting percentage.
• The Blue Jays won at the net with 12 block assists.

Fontbonne Leaders

• Gallagher led with a season-high 18 kills and .146 hitting percentage. Defensively, she recorded her second double-double with 14 digs.
• Fitzgerald also earned her second double-double with new season-highs in kills (16), hitting percentage (.222), and digs (14).
• Olivia Tallo and Kelly Herr finished with seven digs each both of which are season-highs.
• Abby Grumich handed out a season-high 47 assists. She's now up to seventh all-time at Fontbonne with 1,196 surpassing last year graduate Megan Schaller who sits with 1,176 career assists.
• Emma Pramik added a season-high 18 digs, while Rae Andrews finished with 10.

Up Next

The Griffins will stay at home and welcome rival Webster on Saturday who will be playing its first game on the season. First-service goes up at 1 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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