CANTON, NY – Despite several hard-fought battles, the Vassar women's volleyball team shouldered a tough 3-0 (21-25, 13-25, 22-25) loss at St. Lawrence in Liberty League action on Friday evening. The win moves the Saints to 8-8 on the season with a 1-3 mark in league action, while the Brewers slip to 5-7 and are now 1-2 in the Liberty League.

The Brewers opened the first set with an early 6-3 lead, backed by several Saints errors in addition to a kill from senior utility and captain Sara Ehnstrom. Despite that momentum, St. Lawrence came back to tie it at 6-all behind a kill from senior outside hitter Annika Kreppein and a service ace from sophomore setter Dorian Funk.

It continued to be a back-and-forth battle between the two squads, neither willing to relinquish more than a one point lead until mid-way point as the Saints turned an 11-all score into a 14-11 advantage behind a pair of service aces from senior outside hitter Natalie Piper, coupled with a kill by first year middle hitter Rachel Boudreau.

Vassar battled back, tying it at 15-15 behind consecutive spikes from Ehnstrom, but the Saints countered, paced by two kills from Kreppein and a pair of service aces from Funk to build a 20-15 advantage and force a Brewers timeout.

Rookie hitter Hailey Hayes laid down a couple of strikes down the stretch, but back-to-back kills from Piper and a VC error on the serve gave the Saints the 25-21 set one victory and the match lead.

Second set action saw the Saints grab the quick 5-3 advantage, but a kill from rookie outside hitter Morgan Miller pulled the visitors to within one and a Saints error tied it at 5-all. St. Lawrence edged back out into an 10-6 advantage, taking advantage of several Vassar errors, along with a Kreppein kill.

The Brewers continued to be plagued by errors mid-way through the set, as several miscues, coupled with Kreppein's 10th kill of the match helped SLU to a 17-9 edge. Vassar capitalized on a pair of Saints errors to edge back in, but the visitors could not hold off Kreppein as she scored the final two points to secure the 25-13 victory for the 2-0 match lead.

Third set action proved to be a back-and-forth battle with St. Lawrence opening to a 7-2 lead behind consecutive service aces from senior defensive specialist Reagan Collier-Hogan. The Brewers rebounded, tying the set behind several errors, coupled with kills from sophomore libero Maya Levine and rookie hitter Julia Hale.

A Miller kill pushed the Brewers ahead by an 11-10 margin, but the Saints once again countered as Vassar committed a service error to tie things back up (11-11). With the Saints up 14-11, the Brewers took a timeout, coming out of the pause to pull the score to 14-all behind an ace from Levine and a kill by Ehnstrom.

Vassar grabbed their first lead of the set soon after as sophomore hitter Ava Casalino fired down a kill, but the Saints countered to keep it tied (15-15) behind a Piper strike. Trailing by a 21-17 margin, the Brewers got kills from Casalino and two from Hayes to pull it back to within one (21-20), tying it at 21-all on a service ace from senior hitter Jamie Kesten to force the Saints into a timeout.

It remained tight as the two teams traded points to keep it tied, but three straight kills from Piper closed out the set, 25-22, as St. Lawrence posted the 3-0 match victory.

For the Saints, Kreppein led all players with 18 kills, adding two block assists and 12 digs. Piper posted 12 kills with five service aces and 11 digs, while Posnick dropped in 21 assists and four service aces.

Vassar saw Hayes record seven kills, adding a service ace with a block assist. Ehnstrom added six kills with five digs, while senior setter and captain Madison Wilson recorded 20 assists, a service ace and five digs.

Both teams return to action on Saturday when they resume Liberty League play. The Saints host Bard at 2pm, while the Brewers head down the road for a 2pm match at Clarkson.