LATROBE, Pa (Oct. 27)- The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team played host to Thiel on Thursday evening, where the Bearcats comeback fell short, falling to the Tomcats by a 3-2 score.
 
The Bearcats lost the first two sets by scores of 25-22 and 25-13, before winning sets three and four by scores of 27-25 and 25-21. Thiel then took set three by a 15-11 score.
 
Kaelyn Staples led the way for SVC with a team-high 19 kills in the match. Carly Augustine finished with her second straight triple double, recording ten kills and team highs in assists (27) and digs (30). Lauren Fox finished the match with eight kills and five blocks. Stacie Ramos recorded 23 digs, while Vivian Poach tallied 22 assists on the night for the Bearcats.
 
It was very tight early on in the first set. The teams traded the first several points as the match was tied 7-7. The Bearcats scored the next four points, taking an 11-7 lead. Thiel responded, going on a 3-0 run to cut the Saint Vincent lead to 11-10. Just as they did in the first few points, the teams evened out the next couple of points, as the Bearcats still held a 16-15 lead.
 
The Tomcats would then go on to tie the set up at 19-19. At 19-19, Thiel used a 3-0 run to take control of the set with a 22-19 lead. SVC went on a quick 3-0 run of their own, tying the set up at 22-22, before Thiel scored the final three points to win the set (25-22), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Just like the first set, it was very tight early on in the second set. The teams traded the lead a couple times early, but neither team was able to take control as the set was tied 9-9. From that point on it was all Thiel. The Tomcats went on a 7-0 run and scored 10 of the next 11 points to take a commanding 19-10 lead. Thiel continued their attack, outscoring the Bearcats 6-3 in the remaining points of the set, winning the set (25-13), taking full control of the match with a 2-0 lead.
 
The Bearcats fight continued in the third set. The Tomcats took control early, leading at 8-4 and further increasing their lead to 14-9, that's when the momentum started to shift in favor of SVC. The Bearcats went on an 8-4 run, cutting the Thiel lead to one at 18-17. After Thiel increased their lead back to three at 21-18, the Bearcats used a final push to try and force a fourth set.
 
Saint Vincent went on a 5-0 run and scored six of the next seven points to take a 24-22 lead. Thiel scored the next two points on back-to-back kills to even the set up at 24-24. SVC scored three of the next four points, with two of those points coming on kills from Staples to win the set (27-25) and cut Thiel's lead in the match to 2-1.
 
In the fourth set, the Tomcats once again took the lead in the early portions of the set. The Tomcats held a comfortable 12-8 lead. The Bearcats answered, with a quick 4-0 run to tie the set up at 12-12 and scored seven of the next eight points to take the lead at 15-13. Thiel stormed back, tying the set up at 19-19 and then 21-21. It was all Saint Vincent from that point as the Bearcats won the set with a 4-0 run to win the set (25-21), forcing the decisive fifth set.
 
In the fifth set, Saint Vincent held early leads of 5-4 and then 8-7, destined to pull off the comeback win. Thiel scored four of the next five points, taking an 11-9 lead. After the Bearcats cut it to 11-10, the Tomcats used one final push, scoring four of the final five points of the set, winning the set (15-11) and the match 3-2.
 
The Bearcats return to action on Saturday, October 27 when they close out their regular season playing host to Geneva. The match is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. with senior day festivities taking place prior to the game.