The St. Lawrence volleyball team bested Medaille in a five-set barn burner in their first match of the day, and fell to Oswego in four sets to finish the Oswego Invitational 2-1.

Match 1: St. Lawrence vs Medaille, 3-2 (25-23, 25-17, 25-27, 25-27, 15-8)
The first match proved to be a marathon. The Saints reached 25 in each of the first four sets, winning the first two 25-23 and 25-17.

Medaille took the third and fourth sets 27-25, forcing a fifth set. The Saints closed the match with a 15-13 win, their third five-set match win in as many tries this season.

Lainey Roman had 18 kills to lead the Saints. Adeline Riesenberger added 15, and Julia Giroux had 15. Katrina Henrich had four service aces, and Jada Masiclat had five blocks. Lily Snide and Porter split setting duty, with 27 and 22 assists, respectively. Roman had 28 digs to lead the Saints defense.

Match 2: St. Lawrence vs. Oswego, 1-3 (25-17, 21-25, 18-25, 18-25)
The Saints played the hosts in their second match of the day, and took advantage of the Lakers' 10 attacking errors to take the opening set 25-17. Julia Giroux had three first set aces.

In the second set Oswego went on a 9-1 run midway through to lead 20-10. The Saints fought back and scored 11 of the next 15 points, but the Lakers evened the match with a second set win of 25-21.

An early third set run put Oswego up 8-3, and St. Lawrence was not able to close the gap and lost the set 25-18. Again the fourth set, the hosts led early, this time 10-3, and the Saints never got it closer than five. The Lakers won the set, 25-18, and the match 3-1.

Roman and Giroux each had seven kills. Giroux added seven service aces and four blocks. Rachel Boudreau also had four blocks. Side had ten assists, and Porter had eight. Roman had 18 digs, and Henrich had 16.

Head coach Shelly Roiger
"There was no lack of volleyball this weekend for our team, with two five set victories and one four set loss. We had nine players in a uniform who were cleared to play as the injury and sickness bug continues to bite us. Without question, we made this weekend much, much more difficult than it needed to be. With a very young team, it is critical that we mature each and every match. We are teaching newcomers the importance of sustaining focus and mental toughness over a long period of time and they are still learning that important aspect of college athletics. We used the word 'expectation' a lot and I hope that they continue to grow in that area to hold both themselves and their teammates accountable. Quite honestly, we were absolutely awful in some areas and this team overcame a lot of adversity and showed toughness when it mattered the most to pull out two marathon victories. When they could have made all kinds of excuses, they responded with resiliency instead. I'm proud of their effort and we will rest and recover to get ready for a new season, the Liberty League season, where everyone is 0-0."

Records: St. Lawrence (3-8), Oswego (8-6), Medaille (1-9)
Up Next: The Saints open league play against Union on September 23^rd in Schenectady, N.Y. at 7 p.m.