Saint Francis University Athletics

BALTIMORE, Md. -- Saint Francis women's volleyball fought hard against Notre Dame of Maryland in back-to-back matches on Saturday. The Red Wolves fell in both games, 1-3 and 2-3. 

Saint Francis found some fuel late in the third set to keep them in the first game. Alexandra Sappia set Kylie Rauch up for back-to-back-to-back kills to give the Red Wolves a four point lead. Ana Andrades-Villa collected a service ace then Ava Holden nabbed a huge solo block to win the set 25-18. Saint Francis could not find its boost in the fourth, and ended up falling 18-25. 

During the first match, Rauch lead the Red Wolves with 16 kills. Sappia had 21 assists and seven digs. Samantha Whitling had eight digs while Emmi Adrian had seven digs and five aces. 

A huge run in the second set of the second game gave Saint Francis the fire they needed to claim the set. With Notre Dame of Maryland up 3-1, the Red Wolves went on a 12-0 run. Rauch, Holden, and Elsa Richards had a kill a piece. While Yasmin Berres registered six service aces and Richards grabbed a solo block to cap off the run. Rylan Crowell ended the set with a kill aided from Sappia. 

The next two sets went back and forth with Notre Dame of Maryland but the Gators capitalized on the errors to win 3-2. 

In the second game, Crowell finished with 17 kills and seven digs. Berres had 11 digs and seven aces while Sappia had 28 assists and seven digs. 

Saint Francis heads into conference play on Wednesday with its first opponent being Waynesburg. The game starts at 7:00 p.m. 

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