Griffins end season with loss to Tournament Champion Greenville

Greenville, Ill. - Fontbonne women's volleyball opened St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament play with a tough 24-26 first-set loss to eventual tournament champion Greenville College. Fontbonne managed to get 18 points on the Panthers in each of the final two sets. The Griffins finished 2015 play 13-19 overall and 11-7 in conference.

The beginning of the game was filled with blocks and consecutive points by each team, getting the fans excited early. Greenville scored the first three points when Fontbonne rebounded to take a 4-3 lead. In those seven points, the teams combined for three blocks and two service aces. Fontbonne held the 6-5 advantage and kept the lead until the very end of the game. The Griffins led 18-14 when Greenville closed the gap. AFter leading 24-23, Fontbonne needed just one more point to secure the win when Greenville score three straight points to win.

Fontbonne trailed by three points in the second set when Greenville scored seven consecutive points and looked to run away with the win. Fontbonne closed in and trailed by three (16-19) but couldn't reach the Panthers. In the third set, Greenville led 20-12 at one point as the crowd backed them through the win. Junior Holly Richter tallied two solo blocks and two block assists guiding Fontbonne defensively at the net.

On the day, Lynsey Wehrenberg totaled 11 assists, but her 13 digs saved the Griffins plenty, earning her SLIAC All-Tournament Team honors. Kersten McDonough recorded 12 kills and 10 digs on the afternoon. The junior earned First-Team All-Conference accolades after finishing first in the SLIAC regular season in points and kills. Totaling 14 digs against the Panthers, Maddie Stadler was recognized after the tournament as a Second-Team All-Conference honoree. Stadler has 378 SLIAC digs to lead conference players and is fourth all-time in Fontbonne history with 1,348 career digs. Rounding out Fontbonne's list of awards is freshman Sarah Vreibel who garnished All-Sportsmanship Team.

The Griffins will lose Mandy DeWitt, Carissa Dodge and Stadler to graduation.