Saint Francis Comes Up Short in Five Sets to (RV) Huntington
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
(RV) Huntington (19-4, 7-4) | 24 | 25 | 25 | 28 | 16 | 3 |
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) (4-18, 0-10) | 26 | 19 | 16 | 30 | 14 | 2 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) women's volleyball team dropped a narrow five-set match against (RV) Huntington University inside the Hutzell Athletic Center on Wednesday, October 8.
Huntington won Wednesday's match by a final score of 3-2, with set scores of 26-24, 19-25, 16-25, 30-28, 14-16.
Huntington and Saint Francis battled back and forth in the opening set. The Cougars' offense started strong, hitting .344 with 16 kills in the first set as Saint Francis edged the Foresters 26-24 to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set started close, with the teams trading points until Huntington pulled ahead by three to make it 16-13 in favor of the Foresters. The Cougars tried to cut Huntington's lead, but the Foresters hung on to win set two and tie the match at 1-1.
Huntington carried the momentum into the third set, with the Forsters coming away with a 25-16 set three win, giving HU a 2-1 advantage in the match.
Saint Francis responded with a strong start in the fourth set, quickly taking an 11-5 lead. The Foresters fought back, managing to tie the score at 22-22. Both teams exchanged points until, with the score tied at 28-28, the Cougars secured victory with back-to-back kills, winning set four 30-28 and forcing a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set was another close battle, but Huntington would escape with the five-set win after earning a 16-14 victory in the final set. With the win, the Foresters improve their overall record to 19-14 and 7-3 in Crossroads League play while extending their win streak to seven matches.
As a team, the Cougars finished with 64 kills and 90 digs. Sophomore Kayla Gumbel led with a match-high 23 kills. Annabelle Sweigert hit .429 with 17 kills, while Kendal Frey added 10 kills against the Foresters. Teigen Fortkamp recorded 55 assists with 10 digs and two solo blocks. Senior Hannah Sweeney finished with a career-high 29 digs. Three other Cougars also had 10 or more digs in Wednesday night's match, including Hannah Quinn (18), Isabel Freese (13) and Katie Mills (10).
Up next, Saint Francis volleyball (4-18, 0-10 CL) hosts No. 22 Marian University on Saturday, October 11. In their first matchup of the season, the Knights defeated the Cougars in four sets, with set scores of 17-25, 25-22, 15-25 and 9-25.
Founded in 1890 in the Catholic Franciscan tradition, the University of Saint Francis offers more than 60 undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs through the College of Health Sciences and the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business. In addition to its traditional programs, Saint Francis designs focused curricula for working adults in Fort Wayne, Crown Point, Lafayette and online. Saint Francis Downtown houses the music technology program while offering enhanced internship and networking opportunities for students. The University of Saint Francis, recognized as an NAIA Five-Star Champion of Character institution, has 21 athletic programs boasting two individual and four team NAIA national championships. More than 1,900 students from a broad geographic region attend Saint Francis.
