Gainesville, FL

Santa Fe College (13-10, 3-7) hosted the Hillsborough Community College Hawks (13-11, 2-8) on Monday night. The Saints won in five sets 18-25, 10-25, 25-22, 25-12, 17-15. Coach Bailey Coleman was happy with the way the girls rallied, stating "What a comeback. Hillsborough came out strong and blocked well. We flipped a switch after the second set. It was a whole team effort. It took an army to pull us out. Mariana finished with seven kills in the fifth set, what an amazing fight from our girls."

Kailyn Howard recorded a block to get the Saints on the board in the first set, and the Saints took their first lead at 7-6. The set went back and forth until the Hawks pulled out to a 13-10 lead. A service ace by Aria Eisel cut the deficit to 15-14, but the Hawks extended their lead to win the set 25-18.

The Hawks started the second set 8-0, and the run ended with a Hawks error after a Saints timeout. Kierston Giesey recorded a couple of kills, but the Hawks remained in control as they won the second set 25-10.

Kierston Giesey recorded another kill in the third set, and Maria Contreras recorded a block as the Saints tied the third set 7-7. The Hawks went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-7 lead, and Mariana Haas ended the run with a kill. Kailyn Howard recorded a kill and Maria Contreras had an ace to cut the deficit to 13-11. The Saints took the lead 15-14 with back-to-back aces by Kailyn Howard. Lauanna Pino recorded an ace of her own to give the Saints an 18-16 lead, and the Saints extended the lead to 20-17 with another block by Maria Contreras. The Hawks came back to tie the set, but a kill by Maria Contreras and Kailyn Howard gave the Saints a 23-21 lead. The Saints held on to win the third set 25-22.

Kailyn Howard had another ace as the Saints took a 5-1 lead in the fourth set. An ace by Lauanna Pino and kills by Kierston Giesey, Mariana Haas, and Maria Contreras extended the lead to 11-4. A block by Madison Villanueva gave the Saints a 15-9 lead. The Saints held on to win the fourth set 25-12.

A block by Mariana Haas gave the Saints a 4-2 lead in the fifth set. The Hawks took the lead 10-9, but a kill by Mariana Haas gave the Saints match point at 14-13. An ace by Mariana Haas gave the Saints the fifth set win 17-15.

The Saints will host #15 Daytona State College in their second-to-last regular season game on Wednesday, October 23^rd at 6:00PM EDT.

Article By: Bryan Denton