DAYTON, Ohio – The Saint Francis women's volleyball team lost two matches on Saturday afternoon, falling to tournament host Wright State in three sets and Akron in four.

Wright State 3, Saint Francis 0 (25-23, 25-13, 25-22)
In the team's first match of the day, Hannah Kutny (Clifton Park, N.Y./Catholic Central) led the Red Flash with 12 kills and 17 digs. In the first set, Saint Francis outhit Wright State, .308 to .297. Wright State took a 7-4 lead, but SFU responded with six of the next seven points to take a 10-8 lead. Kills from Kutny and Maria Cup (Chesterland, Ohio/Gilmour Academy), both assisted by Ameila Metzler, highlighted the run. The teams traded points up to 18-18, when two straight from WSU gave it the advantage. Chelsea Easter (Burlington, Ontario, Canada/Notre Dame Roman Catholic) and Breanna Opera (Lancaster, N.Y./Lancaster ) each had kills late in the set, but WSU took the game, 25-23.

After a 25-13 defeat in the second set, Saint Francis came out with a burst in the third. Cup, Easter and Kutny each had an ace in the Flash's first eight points, and those aces helped the Flash jump out to a 13-8 lead on a kill by Emily Marcinowski (Strongsville, Ohio/Padua Franciscan). A kill from Lauren Williams (Reno, Nev./Damonte Ranch) made it 19-16, and an Easter point made it 20-17, but Wright State scored the next six points and eight of the next 10 points to come from behind to win the set and the match.

Metzler led SFU with 18 assists while Williams finished with 16.

Akron 3, Saint Francis 1 (25-16, 19-25, 22-25, 26-28)
The Flash rebounded nicely in the first game against Akron. The Flash held the Zips to an .095 hitting percentage in the first set, but Akron got out to an 8-5 lead. That's where the tide shifted. Saint Francis went on a 7-0 run and scored nine of the next 10 points to take control of the set. Marcinowski rattled off three consecutive kills during the 7-0 run, and Williams finished the 9-1 run with a service ace.

After Akron made it 17-13, the Flash again went on a run to put the set out of reach. SFU scored six in a row to make it 23-13. Marcinowski had two more kills on the run. Cup scored to win the set for the Flash, 25-16.

SFU took a 9-7 lead in set two, but Akron rattled off the next six points to take the lead. SFU scored five of the next six points to tie the set at 16 apiece on the strength of kills from Easter, Williams and Kutny. After Marcinowski tied the score at 18-18, Akron took control with five straight points as it went on to win, 25-19. SFU did hold Akron to hitting .194 in the set.

SFU dug a hole by falling behind, 9-3 in the third set. It chipped away at the deficit throughout the set. An ace from Kelsey Roush (Johnstown, Pa./Richland) made it 16-12 Akron, but the Zips then scored six straight to make it 22-12. At 24-16, the Flash was down to set point, but SFU rallied to cut the deficit to 24-22. Sophie Murdock (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion ) and Williams had kills to bookend the streak. That run ended with a kill for Akron end the set, 25-22.

The fourth set was just as close, but it started with Akron taking a 15-5 lead. Jenna Veres (Independence, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) had two aces to cut the lead to 15-9, and a 5-0 Red Flash run cut it to 18-16. The teams traded 4-0 runs with Murdock's kill making it 22-20 Akron. After an Akron point, Murdock had two kills and the Flash tied it at 23 on an Akron error. Cup had a kill to tie the score at 25, and Marcinowski made it 26-26 with a kill. That would be the final tie of the match, however, as Akron scored the last two points of the set to take it along with the match.

Easter led the Flash with 11 kills while Marcinowski and Cup each had 10. Williams had 41 assists, and Roush led the Flash with 19 digs. Easter added 17 digs while Veres had 16.

The Flash concludes the weekend at Wright State tomorrow with another match against the hosts at 1 p.m.