LATROBE, Pa. (Sept. 13)- The Saint Vincent women's volleyball team was defeated by Washington and Jefferson 3-2 on Wednesday night.
 
The Bearcats won the opening two sets 25-21 and 25-22 before losing in the next three sets, 28-26, 25-16, and 15-9 in the decisive fifth set.
 
Luciana Polk and Kaelyn Staples led the way for SVC, both recording 16 kills. Polk also recorded 22 digs. Madie Eagler recorded 25 assists and Sani Jones added 16 assists in the loss for Saint Vincent. Stacie Ramos recorded a team-high 29 digs.
 
Coming off the bench, Nicolena Yanosick tallied nine digs, while Jessica Hughes added six digs. Lauren Fox totaled five blocks for the Bearcats.
 
It was all Saint Vincent early on as SVC took an early 13-6 lead in the opening set. The Bearcats increased that lead to 19-11 after a kill from Hughes, which was their largest lead of the set. The Presidents climbed back into the match cutting the Bearcats lead to just three at 21-18 and 23-20. SVC closed the set out scoring two of the final three points on kills by Fox to win the opening set (25-21), taking a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
In the second set, it was W&J who took the opening advantage as the Presidents opened up to a 9-5 lead. The Bearcats stormed back with a quick 4-0 run on two errors by the Presidents mixed between a kill from Polk and service ace by Alexis DiFuccia tying the set up at 9-9.
 
The teams traded points back-and-forth with the Bearcats taking a slight two-point advantage after a W&J attack error to take an 18-16 lead. Both the Presidents and Bearcats continued to trade points as W&J cut into the SVC lead, cutting it to just one point at 23-22 in favor of SVC. The Bearcats answered scoring the final two points of the set on a kill by Staples and attack error by W&J to win the set (25-22), taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The Bearcats took an early 4-0 lead in set three after kills from Eagler and Hughes and two attack errors by the Presidents. From that point on W&J answered back. The Presidents took their first lead at 7-6. Washington and Jefferson increased their lead to 16-10 before the Bearcats started to climb back into the set.
 
SVC went on a 9-3 run to tie the set up at 19-19 and took the lead at 22-21 on a kill by Staples and increased their lead to 23-21 after an attack error by the Presidents. W&J stormed back to score the next three points and the teams went back-and-forth on the next couple of points as the set was tied 26-26.
 
W&J then scored the next two points to win the set (28-26), forcing a fourth set, with Saint Vincent still in front in the match, 2-1.
 
W&J's momentum gained in set three carried into the fourth set. The Presidents opened up to a 4-1 lead and never looked back, increasing their lead to 14-9 and then 20-10. SVC traded the next few points with W&J but it wasn't enough as the Presidents pulled away to win the set (25-16), forcing the decisive fifth set.
 
It was much of the same story in the fifth set as Washington and Jefferson opened up to an early lead of 5-1 and increased their lead to 9-6. The Bearcats attempted one final push as they cut the lead to 10-9 on an attack error by the Presidents followed by a kill from Polk.
 
W&J went on to score the final five points to win the fifth set (15-9) and the match 3-2. As a team SVC compiled 51 kills, seven service aces, nine blocks, 49 assists, and 90 digs in the loss.
 
Sophie Little led the Presidents with 16 kills. Brielle Moorehouse tallied a game-high 30 assists and Piper McFarland recorded 29 digs as well for W&J.
 
The Bearcats return to action this weekend when they travel to Oberlin, Ohio to take part in the two-day Oberlin College Invite on Friday, September 15 and Saturday, September 16. SVC will play a doubleheader on Friday when they take on Defiance College at 4 p.m., followed by Caltech at 6 p.m. Saint Vincent will then compete against Wooster on Saturday at noon.