Women's Volleyball Drops Its Season Opener Against STLCOP

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University women's volleyball team had hopes of starting out the 2018 year with a win, however, the St. Louis College of Pharmacy Eutectics defended its home court with a straight set (23-25, 27-29, 21-25) win.

The Griffins (0-1), hit .106 on the evening, though the team had its struggles from the service line with 15 errors.

Individually, newcomer Maura Rabun stood out on both sides of the net with a team-high 10 kills, a match-high .600 hitting percentage and contributed four block assists. Kristina Eason added eight kills, while Karsyn Kulick finished with seven.

Megan Schaller handed out 18 assists and Sarah Borgerding led the team in the dig department with 13. As a team, the Griffins concluded with 12 block assists.

The Eutectics (1-0), meanwhile, owned a hitting percentage of .097. Sierra Sagucio led STLCOP with a match-high 11 kills. Setter Kacie Kinnikin dished out 20 assists, while Aubree Mann led with a match-high 15 digs.

In the first set, the Griffins jumped out to an 8-7 lead on Borgerding's service ace. The team maintained a slight 10-9 advantage before the Eutectics rattled off a 4-0 run, capped off by consecutive kills from Sagucio to make it 13-10.

Later in the set, the Griffins trailed 21-16. Then, a 6-0 run finished off by a block assist from Victoria Curtice and Rabun put the Griffins ahead, 22-21.

The two teams met-up once more at 23-all on another Griffins block assist. However, the Eutectics collected the final two points for the 25-23 win.

It was a tough set for both teams in the opener offensively. The Griffins hit -.022, while the Eutectics hit an even .000.

In the second, it was back-and-forth play throughout as they were all square at 15-15. STLCOP gained a bit of breathing room at 19-15 on Aften Richter's service ace. They held onto that marginal lead and were a point away from taking the set, leading 24-21.

The Griffins, though responded with a 3-0 run as kills from Megan McKenzie, Kulick and Rabun tied up the scoreboard. The two teams went point-for-point, but a kill from Tessa Butt and a block assist from Brianna Landrum and Cassady Reno gave the Eutectics the 29-27 win. Offensively, the Griffins hammered home a match-high 15 kills in the set.

In the third, the Eutectics led 12-7 on a Griffins attack error. Fontbonne got within three on multiple occasions, including a kill from Rabun to narrow the deficit down to 23-20. The Eutectics fended off Fontbonne, closing out the set and the match, 25-21.

The Griffins look to bounce back this Saturday at the Iowa Wesleyan Quad. First-up is Principia at 12 p.m., followed by an outing against host Iowa Wesleyan at 2 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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