Senior Annika Kreppein had a career-high 18 kills in 26 attacks with just one error to lead the St. Lawrence volleyball team over Vassar in straight sets on Friday night in Canton, N.Y. to get their first league win of the season.

Kreppein's performance gives her a match hitting percentage of .654, which is the second highest of all time, just behind teammate Natalie Piper's .700 match against SUNY Canton earlier in the season.

The Saints took control early in the match, leading the first set 20-15. The Brewers mounted a comeback and scored four of the next six points to bring the score to 22-19. A pair of kills from Piper brought the Saints to set point, and after two Brewer kills, a service error eventually gave the Saints the set, 25-21.

St. Lawrence led 10-8 midway through the second set, but went on a seven-to-one run to lead 17-9. After a three-point run by Vassar, the Saints scored eight of the next nine points, punctuated by back-to-back Kreppein kills, to take the set 25-13.

The third set was the Brewers' best chance to take a set. Down by four late in the set, three kills and a service ace by the Vassar team evened the score at 21. The teams exchanged points to bring it even at 22, and Piper finished the match with three consecutive kills.



"It felt great to get that first conference win of the season," head coach Shelly Roiger said. "We started off passing very poorly and we made several undisciplined errors, both mental and physical, to start the match. I'm not sure if it was nerves or lack of focus, but fortunately we were able to get on a roll that was initiated with a strong service run. Going into the match we talked about winning the battle of the first contact and having our blocking be a factor in the match. As the match progressed, I thought we got stronger and stronger in those areas."

Along with her 18 kills, Kreppein led the team with 12 digs. Piper added 12 kills, 11 digs and five service aces. Allie Posnick and Dorian Funk split setting duty, finishing with 21 and 12 assists, respectively.

Hailey Hayes led Vassar with seven kills, and Maya Levine led the defense with 10 digs. Madison Wilson had 20 assists.

The Saints had six blocks and 14 aces to the Brewers' two blocks and five aces.

Records: St. Lawrence (8-8, 1-3), Vassar (5-6, 1-2)
Next: vs. Bard on October 9 at 2 p.m. in Canton, N.Y.