Gainesville, FL

The Saints hosted the University of South Carolina Lancaster on Thursday night. The Saints won in five sets 25-11, 25-20, 18-25, 23-25, 15-9.

The Saints were able to jump out to a 7-2 lead over the Lancers to force a timeout, thanks in part to back-to-back service aces by Maria Freitas and a block by Riley Solomon. The Lancers were able to close the gap to 9-7 following the timeout. The Saints extended the lead again to 15-7 with two service aces by Madison Howard and blocks by Mariana Haas and Linnea Preston, forcing the Lancers to use their second timeout. Howard had another ace, and Preston had another block following the timeout. Maria Contreras added an ace of her own, as Mariana Haas ended the first set 25-11 with an ace.

Riley Solomon had an emphatic kill to open the second set for the Saints, who started with a 4-0 run. The Lancers tied the set 7-7, but the Saints responded with Madison Howard's fourth ace of the game. The Lancers took their first lead at 11-10, and the Saints took their first timeout after going down 13-10. The Saints fought back to tie the set 17-17 and regained the lead 20-19 after a Maria Contreras kill and a Lancer error. Madison Howard extended the lead to 24-19 with three aces in a row. Linnea Preston ended the second set 25-20 with a kill.

Mariana Haas had a kill and an ace for the Saints as they took a 5-1 lead in the third set. A block by Linnea Preston kept the Saints' lead at 10-6, but the Lancers went on a run to tie the set 10-10. The Lancers took their first lead 13-12, and they continued to find gaps in the defense as they took the third set 25-18.

An ace by Madison Villanueva gave the Saints a 3-2 lead in the fourth set. Linnea Preston extended the lead to 7-4 with a kill. The Lancers came back to take the lead at 10-9, and the Saints took a timeout after going down 13-11. The Lancers extended the lead to 19-15, then Maria Freitas had a kill followed by an ace by Aria Eisel. The Lancers took their final timeout after the Saints cut the deficit to 19-18. The Saints tied the set 22-22 after kills by Mariana Haas and Riley Solomon. The Lancers won the fourth set 25-23.

The Saints started the fifth set 3-0, and a kill by Haas gave the Saints a 6-1 lead and forced a Lancer timeout. The Lancers brought the score closer at 10-5, but an ace by Aria Eisel extended the Saints' lead to 13-6. A block by Jessica Mckee gave the Saints match point at 14-7, and the Saints won the fifth and final set 15-9 by a Riley Solomon kill.

The Saints will travel to New Port Richey, FL on Wednesday, September 11th to face off against Pasco-Hernando State College at 6:00 PM EDT. This will be the Saints' final game before conference play begins at home next Saturday, September 14^th against Hillsborough Community College at 2:00 PM EDT.