Cassady Smith's team-high 20 digs paced the St. Lawrence University volleyball team, but they dropped a 3-0 decision to Wheaton on Friday afternoon at the Gordon College Invitational opener, falling 25-20, 25-20, 25-23.
St. Lawrence moves to 3-5 overall ahead of a two-game Saturday in Massachusetts.
Wheaton opened the match with a 12-2 run behind four straight points from the service line and a pair of kills from Eliana Inch.
Bridget Gammons answered with three consecutive aces to pull the Saints to 12-7, and St. Lawrence closed to 24-19 on a
Kaitlyn Putman and
Audrey Bibbins block before the Wheaton finished the opener.
The Saints pulled away early in the second, a set that featured multiple lead changes. St. Lawrence built a 12-9 edge on a Smith ace, and the teams were level at 13 and 14 before Wheaton scored three in a row to pull ahead, then outscored the Saints 5-2 down the stretch to win the set and take a stranglehold on the game.
St. Lawrence came out of the break with a 7-0 run on
Vanessa Latam's serve, capped by kills from
Annika Flittie, Putman and Gammons. The Saints stretched the advantage to 18-10 on four straight points, including a
Kalina Natcheva kill and a Smith ace. Wheaton responded with three consecutive aces from Maddy Botelho to cut the deficit to 16-18 and eventually squared the set at 19.
Flittie and
Araiza Acum-Santos added kills to keep St. Lawrence within a point, but the Lyons scored three in a row for a 24-21 lead and closed out the match after the Saints got within two.
Gammons led St. Lawrence with seven kills and three aces for a team-high 11.5 points. Flittie added six kills, eight points and five digs. In addition to Smith's outing, Latam added seven digs of her own while dishing out 12 assists with seven digs.
McKayla Pollard hit .250 with three kills in one set of work.
The Saints return to action in the morning, playing host Gordon College in the second game of the tournament beginning at 10 a.m.
Â
