Griffins go 1-1 in nine sets; McDonough making history

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne University hosted a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference quad match today with Iowa Wesleyan, Westminster and Spalding traveling to St. Louis.

The Griffins first took on Spalding University for their home SLIAC opening contest. Fontbonne came away with the win in a heated battle that lasted four sets. Fontbonne took set one, three and four 25-20, 25-21 and 28-26 while Spalding edged the Griffins 26-24. In all, there were 26 tied scores and 9 lead changes. In Spalding's second-set win there were nine ties while the third set endured 11 ties.

Fontbonne's Kersten McDonough led the game with 18 kills and ended with a .268 kills percentage. The Griffins switched up their lineup, saving McDonough's energy for mostly front-row usage. Emily Merick totaled nine kills and 8 digs while Maddie Stadler led the team with 11 digs and 6 service aces. Krista Beyer dug out seven balls as she filled in the back row for McDonough. Lynsey Wehrenberg totaled 21 assists with Mandy DeWitt adding 14 more.

Elise Burkman led Spalding at the net with 15 kills, which she did in three sets, as she sat out during the first set loss.

Against Westminster, fans saw another close battle as the Griffins fell 21-25, 25-19, 25-23, 18-25 and 12-15. Sets one and three endured 14 ties for a total of 32 during the match.

Fontbonne held 15 kills to Westminster's 14 in the first set along with a 2-0 service ace advantage, but Westminster's .262 kill percentage edged out their victory. Close kill numbers ensued for the remainder of the game, but Westminster held the hitting percentage in every set except set two. The Griffins suffered a loss of Carissa Dodge during set one to an ankle injury.

McDonough totaled 31 kills against the Blue Jays, her new career record to beat. Previously the team's single-game high was 20 kills, also set by McDonough. McDonough is only the second player to achieve 30 or more kills in a single game against a SLIAC opponent in the last five years.

Three Griffins posted double-digit digs against the Blue Jays: Stadler (13) and Merick and Beyer each posted 10 digs. Wehrenberg notched four aces and her career-high 27 assists.

On the day, Fontbonne totaled 98 kills 23 service aces, 94 digs and 10 team blocks.

The Griffins host Robert Morris of Springfield on Tuesday and Spalding travels back to MABEE Gymnasium for a re-match on Friday.