The St. Lawrence University volleyball team won the opening set but fell to William Smith in four sets to conclude their season on Saturday afternoon in Burkman Gymnasium.

The Saints came out swinging and took an early 6-0 lead, which included three kills from first-year Julia Giroux. The Saints held off the Herons, until a later five-point run drew them to within three points, and another three-point run brought them within one at 19-18. St. Lawrence responded with three straight of their own, and later Giroux's fourth kill of the set gave them the 25-20 win.

St. Lawrence scored the opening three points of the second set, with Lainey Roman earning a kill and two consecutive service aces. Neither team earned much of an advantage in the opening half, and the set was tied at six, seven, 10, and 11. The Herons were able to eek out a five point advantage at 20-15, but a 5-1 run for the Scarlet and Brown cut the lead to one at 21-20. William Smith scored the final four to take the set 25-20.

In the final two sets the Herons displayed why they sit third in the Liberty League, winning both 25-14. They had a .429 hitting-percentage in the third set, and went on a ten point run in set four.


Giroux finished with 11 kills, Roman had nine and Vivian Zymeck had eight. Zymeck and Berit Brecke each had four blocks, and Jada Masiclat had three.

Libero Maggie Layman had 13 digs to lead the Saints' defense, and Giroux added a dozen. Lily Snide had 28 assists.

Head coach Shelly Roiger
"Our first set was probably our best set of the season. Our block, like last night, was outstanding with four in the first set alone. We got off to a great start with our first contact and dominated that aspect of the set. William Smith chipped away at our lead, but it was nice to take set one. Over the course of the match, I thought we once again let our foot off the gas pedal a bit and we just don't have the hunger yet, or that 'refuse to lose' mentality. William Smith has a lot of young talent, and they will contend for a conference title this year. They definitely make the Liberty League stronger, and I love playing teams that force you to bring out your best. Our team did that to start the match but then we got complacent and didn't do enough of the little things correctly to earn the win."

Records: St. Lawrence (7-19, 1-7 LL), William Smith (16-5, 6-2 LL)