LAKELAND, Fla.—Southeastern was just one set away from a seventh consecutive victory, but was unable to close out the match, dropping a five-set decision to St. Francis Tuesday night.
The Fighting Saints were held to a team attacking percentage of just .025 through the first two sets, won by the Fire 25-15 and 26-24, forcing 21 errors on 79 attempts.
The script flipped in the third set with USF hitting .265 as a team with 14 kills against just five errors after jumping out to a 6-0 advantage, and leading by as many as 14 during a 25-19 win.
Southeastern got its offense back on track in the fourth set, rallying from down 21-12 with a 7-1 run to get within three. However, the Fire couldn't slow down Lauren Stefanski, who had four kills, an ace and three blocks in the set to help the Saints win 25-22.
In the fifth, the Saints won the first four rallies, but the Fire got two kills from
Emily Boehlein, who finished with 16, along with a kill from
Emily Kalmink, who had a match-best 18 kills and .455 hitting percentage, along with a kill by
Baylee Warneke to tie the tiebreaker.
A 6-1 run gave USF control of the set, going on to a 15-12 win.
The Fire recorded 10 blocks, getting six from Kalmink, and four each from
Taylor Gregory and Boehlein.
Katie Chillura had a match-high 25 digs to help the defense.
Sarah Castillo dished out 44 assists, and added 19 digs, four kills, and helped out on a block.
Southeastern will return to Sun Conference play tomorrow on the road at Webber International.
