Kori Meissner,
Kate Gardner, and
Araiza Acum-Santos all set career-highs as the St. Lawrence Volleyball team lost in four sets to the SUNY Potsdam Bears, but then downed the SUNY Poly Wildcats 3-1 in their season-ending triad Saturday in Potsdam, N.Y.
The pair of games wrap up the Saints' 2024 campaign, as they finish winning four of their final five contests, going 7-18 overall on the season.
"The statistics tell the story of our Potsdam match because we took care of every category except the same one that has been an issue all season long – service errors," said
Shelly Roiger, the Saints' head coach. "When we hand opponents excessive amounts of points without forcing them to play the game, the scoreboard will rarely end in our favor and that was the case versus the Bears."
"After a 30-minute break, it was time to compete again and I thought we had a very strong first set against Poly. The rest of the match had its up and downs, but we were able to get everyone on the roster some rotations and it was especially nice to see
Rachel Boudreau, one of our seniors, back on the court after an injury that had sidelined her for three weeks. Her and her fellow senior,
Kate Gardner, finished the match together on the court for our last few points of the 2024 season and it was nice to have the match allow that specific rotation to happen."
Meissner and Acum-Santos recorded 24 and 22 digs respectively in the opening game versus Potsdam, both of which were career highs. Acum-Santos also accumulated three total blocks in said game which was a career high for her as well. Gardner recorded a career-high 11 kills versus the Bears.
Overall for the day, Acum-Santos led the way with 31 kills and finished second on the team with 31 digs, right behind Meissner's 35. Gardner had 18 kills and Velasquez added 17.
Lily Snide recorded four service aces in the game against Potsdam State and totaled six for the day to lead all Saints.
Game 1: St. Lawrence 1, Potsdam 3 (25-22, 23-25, 25-27, 23-25)
There were many ties and lead changes in the first set against Potsdam. Neither team was able to string together a run and the game was within two points until late. With the Saints leading 17-16, Gammons added a kill then followed that up with a service ace to give St. Lawrence a three-point lead. Potsdam then tied it at 19, and the Saints responded with a 3-0 run to make it 22-19, highlighted by two kills from Acum-Santos. This time, the Saints held onto the lead and won 25-22.
In the second set, the Bears started off with a 6-0 lead, but the Scarlet and Brown used a 9-1 run to make the game 15-14, taking their first lead of the set. Gammons had three blocks on Bears' kill attempts in this span. Shortly after however, Potsdam went on a 6-1 run to take a four-point lead, but then the Saints tied it at 21 off of two aces by Snide and two kills by Acum-Santos. In the final moments of the set, the Bears scored two straight to take the set 25-23.
When leading 12-11 in the third, the Saints had a 4-0 run behind two kills from Gardner and one from Gammons to pull ahead 16-11. Potsdam then scored five straight to tie the game and the end game was more see-saw action between the two teams. The Saints were behind 22-21 late but pulled the score to 24-22. However, Potsdam tied it 24-24, then took three of the last four points to win the set and go up 2-1.
The Bears got off to a hot start in the fourth set, leading St. Lawrence 5-1 and then 10-5 a while later. St. Lawrence then played catch-up before ultimately taking the lead 17-16 for the first time in the set. However, the Bears managed to get back out in front and led 22-19 several points later. The Saints climbed back to within one 24-23, but Potsdam ended it the point after.
Game 2: St. Lawrence 3, SUNY Poly 1 (25-15, 19-25, 25-19, 25-14)
Acum-Santos had a couple of kills early in the first set and the Saints were dominant all the way through, scoring 10 of the first 11 points. The Wildcats got the game within four points, 15-11, but that was the closest they would get in the set, as St. Lawrence took a 10-point victory.
The second set was much more evenly played than the first, with many ties and lead changes early. With the teams tied at 12, the Wildcats went on a 6-1 run to a 18-13 lead. St. Lawrence played SUNY Poly evenly the rest of the way but couldn't get consistent offense going, failing to get closer than four points the remainder of the set. The Wildcats went on to win 25-19.
St. Lawrence found themselves down 3-1 in the third set but then went on a 4-0 run behind three kills from Acum-Santos and an ace from Gammons. The Saints maintained a lead for the rest of the set and with the score 23-19 in favor of St. Lawrence, a kill by Velasquez and an error by the Wildcats gave the Saints the 25-19 set victory.
The Saints scored the first six in the fourth set and then went on to lead 10-2. Later, a kill from Riesenburger gave the Saints a 14-5 advantage. The Wildcats got within reason a little later by scoring five of the next six but the Scarlet and Brown responded by scoring five of the next six themselves, backed by two kills from Acum-Santos. Two consecutive service aces by Meissner gave the Saints the 25-19 victory, knocking off SUNY Poly 3-1 to conclude the season.
