First-year Julia Giroux had a match high 25 kills, and Lainey Roman had 17, as the St. Lawrence volleyball team defeated Bates College 3-1 in a non-conference match on Friday afternoon in Burkman Gymnasium.

Early in the first set the Saints went on a nine-point run, including two service aces from Roman, to jump out to a 12-6 lead. Bates fought back and trailed by one with the score 14-13. The Saints created separation, this time on a six-point run punctuated by three straight aces from Maggie Layman, to lead 21-14. Again Bates inched their way back and trailed by one again, this time 22-21. The Saints scored the final three points with kills from Roman and Giroux, and a third ace from Roman to win 25-21.

Neither team was able to create much of an advantage, but three straight Bobcats' points gave them set point at 24-22. Two straight Scarlet and Brown points drew the set even, but a Bates' kill gave them another set point. A Giroux kill drew them level, an attack error gave the Saints' their first set point of the set, and Vivian Zymeck served an ace to put the set away 27-25.

The third set was even at 19 apiece, but Bates scored six of the last eight points to get their first set win of the evening.

The Saints cobbled together a few runs in the fourth set to lead 19-10, and looked to be on their way to easily taking the match, but Bates fought back like they had in every previous set, and trailed just 19-23. Roman recorded her 17^th kill of the match to set up match point, but Bates scored three straight looking to extend the night. The Saints defended well, and an attack error from the Bobcats put the set away 25-22, and St. Lawrence took the match 3-1.


Giroux's 25 kills put her fifth in the St. Lawrence record books for match high kills, and the highest since Natalie Piper recorded 28 in 2018. This was the fourth match she recorded 20 or more kills. Roman's 17 kills are her second most on the season. Mattie Porter, a Canton, N.Y. native, dished out 39 assists for her career high.

Zymeck finished with four aces to lead the Saints' serving, and Roman and Layman each finished with three. Roman also had 17 digs in the match.

Head coach Shelly Roiger
"I am very proud of our team tonight. We had an outstanding start with our serving, and I thought that set the tone for the beginning of the match. The second set was tight, and I thought our team found a good balance of composure and hunger to pull out the close victory. As the match continued, Bates increased its aggressiveness with their first contact, and they gave us some trouble with their off-speed but we were able to adjust and pull out the win."
 
Records: St. Lawrence (6-16, 1-5 LL), Bates (5-13, 0-8 NESCAC)
Up next: vs Plattsburgh State and SUNY Canton in SUNY Canton with matches at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively