LORETTO, Pa. -- Four Red Wolves players had double-digit numbers while they kept Allegheny to a .025 hitting percentage.
Saint Francis started the game off hot with a 25-9 victory in the first set. The Red Wolves went on a 5-0 run while being up 6-4. Alexandra Sappia set up Lorah Thomas in the middle for a kill. Sappia then grabbed a service ace right before Allegheny collected an attacking error. Rylan Crowell recorded a solo kill after the Gators set a free ball over. Saint Francis continued to dominate with their aces and kills, including an Emmi Adrian ace to give the Red Wolves the set.
Kylie Rauch had the first point of the second set off of a kill. Sappia aided that kill and Ava Holden's kill. Holden and Crowell both had a duo block to shut down the Gators right side hitter. Crowell then registered a kill from Sappia. However, Allegheny found their rhythm and went on several large runs to claim the second set 25-18.
The Red Wolves once again started with a 4-1 run in the third. Holden had two kills, Sappia nabbed two assists, and Samantha Whitling collected an ace. Later when Saint Francis was down 12-15, the Red Wolves went on a 4-0 run to tie the set. Ana Andrades-Villa grabbed an ace while Madison Roman recorded two kills. Allegheny ended this set just like the last with a 25-16 win, thanks to a couple of aces.
With Saint Francis down 4-6, they went on a little 6-0 run early in the fourth set. Adrian set up Sappia for the first kill then Allegheny went on to collect two attacking errors. Andrades-Villa nabbed another ace while Crowell registered another kill. Freshman Allie Dziabo had a huge solo block that stopped a long rally. After some back-and-forth points, Thomas had the kill to give Saint Francis the 25-20 win to push five sets.
During the beginning of the fifth set, Allegheny took a 3-1 lead. Saint Francis found some fuel to regain the lead and not let go. Roman and Holden tag teamed on a block to stop the Gators middle blocker. Sappia set up Holden and Crowell each for a kill while Allegheny had two attacking errors and a ball handling error. Aleya Talmadge aided Crowell for a kill to force a Gator timeout. After a couple points for both teams, Roman slammed a ball of the hands of the Allegheny blockers for a game ending kill. Saint Francis won, 15-11.
Offensively, Sappia had 30 assists, eight aces, four digs, and three kills. Crowell collected 13 kills, eight digs, and two assisted blocks. Holden nabbed 10 kills, three assisted blocks, and a .600 hitting percentage.
Defensively, Roman led with 16 digs, seven kills, one ace, and an assisted block. Talmadge followed her with 15 digs and two assists.
Saint Francis will take a break from home matches and travel to Ohio. They will face Franciscan at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
