Araiza Acum-Santos led the way with 18 kills, Berit Brecke had a team-high five blocks in her return to collegiate competition, and the St. Lawrence University volleyball team walked away from their first game of the year with a four-set victory, 3-1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-20) over Russell Sage in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The Saints' overall record moves to 1-0 ahead of a morning match-up with Plattsburgh State on Saturday.

"We definitely came out tentative but I thought we got better each set," said Saints head coach Shelly Roiger. "As our communication and trust improved, we were able to execute better offensively. The block was excellent all night and that area will be a strength of ours all season as long as we stick with an 'All In' mindset."

The first set of the match began in a dead heat, featuring multiple lead changes. The score got up to 13-13 before Sage went on a 4-1 run to give them their largest lead of the game off an attack error, forcing a St. Lawrence timeout.

Russell Sage kept their three-point advantage until the score was 18-15, then the Saints pulled back within one on back-to-back kills from Rose Meihaus and Adeline Riesenberger. They then tied the set via a Bridget Gammons kill, and took a 20-19 lead on a block from Gammons and Berit Brecke. However, the Gators took the next six points to win the set 25-20.

In the second set, the Saints got off and running with a 4-1 lead, but then the Gators strung together some points again, recording five of the next six points to take a 6-5 advantage over St. Lawrence.

With the score at 8-7 SLU, the Scarlet and Brown then went on a 5-0 run to go up big 13-7. This included back-to-back service aces by Bridget Gammons.

The Saints maintained a multipoint gap from that point on until a kill by Maggie Layman gave them set point at 24-20, and a service ace ended the second set, tying the match 1-1.

The third set was dead even until the mid portion, with the Gators leading the Saints 12-11. That was when St. Lawrence went on a 5-0 run, highlighted by two Brecke kills and a service ace by Cassady Smith to give the Scarlet and Brown the first substantial lead of the set. Acum-Santos and Meihaus each had multiple kills to keep the Saints ahead, then they won the set 25-22 on an attack error to move ahead 2-1.

St. Lawrence rode their newfound momentum to a 3-0 lead right off the hop in the fourth –Acum-Santos and Vanessa Latam earning kills, and Smith adding an ace. The Scarlet and Brown would not trail from there. Sage brought the set back to a 6-6 tie but a Saints' 6-1 run directly thereafter gave them some insurance. That was highlighted by two Brecke kills.

Acum-Santos put the Saints on match point up 24-17 as they controlled the pace of the game's final set. The match ended on a kill by Acum-Santos after three straight Gators points – 25-20 for St. Lawrence.

The Saints will take on both Plattsburgh State and SUNY Delhi on Saturday, August 30, as they look to continue their winning ways at the Plattsburgh State Invitational.