Vanessa Latam's 17 assists led the Saints, and she also added six kills, as Vassar defeated the St. Lawrence University volleyball team 3-0 (17-25, 25-27, 20-25) on Saturday afternoon in a Liberty League match at Kenyon Hall.
The Saints erased an eight-point deficit in the second set and held two set points, but Vassar finished the set and ultimately ended the match in straight sets.
That drops the Saints' overall record to 10-8, and their conference record is 2-2 following a split weekend.
"I don't know if I've seen two box scores so identical to each other when it comes to team totals," said Saints head coach
Shelly Roiger. "We matched or outplayed Vassar in almost all areas with the exception of hitting efficiency. I feel like they were in system more while we got caught scrambling more."
"We were definitely on the reactive side of the ball more often than I'd like. After a poor start, we found our feet and started playing with more intentionality. We had a huge comeback in set two and had opportunities to take that set but we were just one play short. That's the growth that needs to happen for us; making one more play, scoring one more point when it matters most."
Vassar ultimately outhit the Saints .252 to .154 over the match's three sets, leading to the victory.
St. Lawrence took the first point of the opening set, but Vassar led from 2-1 on and hit .270 for the set. The Saints recorded six kills against seven errors and hit minus-.029. A service run by
Sofie Giannelli, which included a
Bridget Gammons kill and an ace, pulled St. Lawrence within 13-12. Vassar answered and closed the set with four straight points.
The second set was the closest of the match. Vassar used a 6-0 run to build a 15-7 lead and went up 19-11 later in the set. St. Lawrence then strung together eight straight points to tie it at 19-19, with Gammons serving the final seven of the run. Vassar moved back in front 23-19, but the Saints scored five in a row, capped by a
Naiyah Reece kill, to take a 24-23 lead. Vassar tied the set at 24-24. St. Lawrence earned a second set point at 25-24, but Vassar won the final three points.
St. Lawrence jumped to a 4-1 lead in the third set and went back in front 9-8 on a 4-0 run. Vassar took control in the second half of the set and led 19-14 before the Saints scored three straight to cut the margin to 24-20. Vassar ended the match on the next point.
Gammons led St. Lawrence with 10 kills and a .368 hitting percentage, and her 11.5 points paced the team.
Annika Flittie added five kills, three aces, 11 digs and three block assists. Latam added  two aces and seven digs to her aforementioned totals.
Cassady Smith recorded 11 digs, five assists and two aces, and Reece added nine digs.
Audrey Bibbins had three block assists.
St. Lawrence finished with 58 digs to Vassar's 56 and out-blocked the Brewers 4.0 to 3.0, including eight block assists. Each team had 11 aces. Vassar held advantages in kills, 42 to 28, and in hitting percentage, .252 to .154.
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