Women's Volleyball Drops The Blue City Finale Against Rhodes

MEMPHIS, Tenn.—The Fontbonne University women's volleyball team fell in its weekend finale in straight sets (20-25, 15-25, 14-25) against Rhodes on Sunday.

The Griffins (10-19), concluded with 24 kills but 18 errors held them to a .062 hitting percentage. Kristina Eason led with her nine kills and picked up six digs. With her performance defensively, she's now over the 700 dig and kill mark in her illustrious career.

Emma Seiz had a strong game with six kills and a .294 hitting percentage as well. Megan Schaller and Abby Grumich tied with eight assists each, while Sarah Borgerding and Claire Sease added eight digs a piece.

Rhodes (12-13), played well on both sides of the net, totaling 40 kills, a .280 hitting percentage, 51 digs and 10 block assists. Emily Korba stood out offensively with 14 kills and zero errors for a .737 hitting percentage.

Setter Sarah Nieland handed out a match-high 23 assists, while Mary Frances Daniel contributed 12 digs.

In the first set, the Lynx jumped out in front at 10-5 on a kill from Heather Antrim. Later, a kill from Megan McKenzie put FBU within striking distance at 13-12 and that forced Rhodes' coaching staff to take a timeout.

Out of the break, Rhodes started to pull away at 17-13 on Korba's kill. Fontbonne answered right back with a 3-0 run to make it 17-16 on Victoria Curtice's kill, however, Rhodes closed out the set on an 8-4 run, taking the opener, 25-20.

It was a tough start for Fontbonne in the second set as the Lynx held a 12-4 lead on Korba's kill. The Griffins got rolling, though collecting four straight points to narrow it down to a 14-9 game on Seiz's kill.

Rhodes took the momentum back as the set wore on as a Griffins service error made it 20-13. They were able to hang on from there, winning 25-15.

In the third, the Griffins took a 5-4 lead early but a 6-0 run by the Lynx put them ahead 10-5 and that forced the FBU coaching staff to take a timeout.

A Lynx service error later in the set cut the deficit down to 16-12 for Fontbonne. That'd be as close as they'd get with Rhodes going on for the 25-14 set and match win.

FBU will return to the court on Wednesday in its regular season finale at home against Iowa Wesleyan. First-serve 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.