Three members of the St. Lawrence volleyball team set career highs Saturday at the Bard Triad as the Saints downed Bard 3-0 and fell to Rutgers-Newark in five sets.
Araiza Acum-Santos had a career-high 25 kills against Rutgers-Newark and also had seven against Bard.
Vanessa Latam and
Sofia Velasquez also set career highs in the second game vs Rutgers-Newark with 46 assists and 12 kills respectively.
Maggie Layman had eight service aces across the two games.
Acum-Santos's 25 kills are a tie for the fifth-highest in a single game in program history. She ties with
Bridget Gammons who set that mark in a 3-2 Saints win over SUNY Poly on August 30, 2024.
"It was nice to get the conference win over Bard," said Saints head coach
Shelly Roiger. "Any win on the road in our league is beneficial."
Game 1: St. Lawrence 3, Bard 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-19)
The beginning of the first match against the Raptors was evenly played. The Saints did open an 8-4 lead, but Bard didn't take long to tie it up at eight. However, St. Lawrence quickly got another lead and held between a one- and three-point advantage in the middle part of the set. A kill by
Kate Gardner and ace by Layman late gave the Saints a 21-16 lead, their largest of the set up to that point, but the Raptors scored the next three to get right back into it. The rest of the way, the two teams matched each other in points and a Raptors service error concluded the set 25-22 in favor of the Saints.
The Scarlet and Brown started off hot in the second set, scoring six of the first seven with
Bridget Gammons having two kills and two service aces in that span. Although the Raptors responded with three straight points after this, the Saints were in control the rest of the way. They opened up an 18-8 lead and then with the game at 19-10, St. Lawrence scored four straight points to open up a 24-10 lead. Although Bard scored the next five, the Saints secured the final point to win the set 25-15 and go up 2-0.
In the third set, it was the Saints who were trailing early, as they got down 4-1 to begin the set. However, St. Lawrence quickly tied the game at 5 thanks to a kill from
Rachel Boudreau and another from Gammons. The middle part of the set was closely contested, neither team had more than a three point lead until late. With the Saints leading 20-19, the Scarlet and Brown scored the final five points of the set. A kill from Acum-Santos helped the Saints earn the 24th point and then a kill from Gammons sealed the game as the Saints earned their second 3-0 victory of the season.
Game 2: St. Lawrence 2, Rutgers-Newark 3 (23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 25-21, 10-15)
The opening set against Scarlet Raiders was about as even as could be. Rutgers-Newark led by three at one point 11-8, but the Saints responded with a 5-0 run thanks in part due to back-to-back kills by Velasquez. After this, neither team led by more than two the rest of the way. After numerous ties and lead changes, with the game at 23-23, the Scarlet Raiders scored the final two points of the set to narrowly beat the Saints 25-23.
Early in the second set, Rutgers-Newark controlled an 8-4 lead, but St. Lawrence erased that by quickly. Latam had a kill then followed that up with three straight service aces to tie the game at 8. The Scarlet Raiders then scored four of the next five and proceeded to hold a slim lead between two and four points for the middle part of the set. The Saints took a lead briefly 18-17 thanks to three straight attack errors by the Scarlet Raiders, but Rutgers-Newark scored three-in-a-row themselves after this. With the Scarlet Raiders leading 24-22, Acum-Santos had a kill, but Rutgers-Newark scored the next point to win by two points once again.
The Saints started the third set with a 6-3 lead but the Scarlet Raiders scored the next six points to earn a three-point lead of their own. Despite the Saints trailing 13-10 they went 6-0 to take a lead. In this turning point, Acum-Santos had two kills and
Lily Snide had an ace. The Saints held this lead the rest of the set, at one point also going on a second 6-0 run and took the set off of a kill from Acum-Santos.
In the fourth set, the Saints trailed early 10-5 and then 17-11 later, but then they stormed back, scoring six straight to tie it at 17 a-piece. The Saints then commanded the final part of the game, never allowing Rutgers-Newark to score back-to-back points in the rest of the set. In their 25-21 set victory, St. Lawrence scored 14 of the last 18 points.
In the winner take all set, St. Lawrence got off to a 5-1 lead, but lost it after four straight points by Rutgers-Newark. Despite grabbing the lead at 10-9, the Saints surrendered the last six points and fell 15-10 in the five-set matchup.
Up Next:
The Saints will have next weekend off, and will not play until Friday, October 18 where they will have a home matchup against Clarkson and then Ithaca the following day.
