GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team fell 3-1 to IU-South Bend in the team's first match of the Aquinas/Cornerstone Classic in Grand Rapids, Michigan. SHU also fell to Carroll (Mont.) in straight sets to finish the opening day. Madison Sitter led the Saints in the losing effort with 21 assists.
THE BASICS
Final Score: Game 1: IUSB 3, Siena Heights 1 (25-17, 24-26, 25-10, 25-19) | Game 2: Carroll (Mont.) 3, Siena Heights 0 (26-28, 21-25, 16-25)
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan (Sturrus Center)
Records: IUSB (8-13), Siena Heights (11-10), Carroll (Mont.) (17-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One: IUSB def. SHU, 3-1
Siena struggled in the opening game of the match allowing the Titans to pull out a 25-17 win and achieve a 1-0 lead.
Set two went to the Saints in extras (26-24) to tie the set score at one game each. Siena tallied its highest attack percentage (.114) in the second set.
IUSB recorded the largest hitting percentage (.314) of the match in game three. The Titans also held the Saints to only 10 points in the third game to put Siena on the ropes with a 2-1 lead.
The match was ended in the fourth with a 25-19 score to IUSB.
Game Two: Carroll (Mont.) def. SHU, 3-0
Siena Heights played Carroll tough in the team's second match of the day. In the opening game, the Saints tallied 15 kills with a team attack percentage of .158 but were edged by the Fighting Saints 28-26.
Carroll (Mont.) pulled out the 25-21 win in the second set to take the 2-0 lead in the match.
In the final set of the match, the Fighting Saints defense held Siena to just seven kills as they pulled out the 25-16 win to end the match.
TOP SAINTS
Game 1
• Janel Ruhlman and Christine Tulutki led the Saints in kills with seven each.
• Bianca Negron led the defense with 13 digs. Sitter and Tylutki each tallied 12 digs in the match. Taylor Felver added 11 digs to the defensive effort.
• Ashleigh Shay totaled four blocks to lead SHU in that category.
• Rebekah Collier and Ruhlman each recorded three blocks each.
Game 2
• Ruhlman and Tylutki led the Saints in the second match with eight kills.
• Sitter again was the focal point of the Siena attack with 28 assists. She also tallied 11 digs.
• Tylutki led SHU with 18 digs.
THE OPPOSITION
Game 1
• Sarah Allison led the Titans with 14 kills.
• McKenzie Powell paced the IUSB offense with 40 assists.
• Samantha Hockstra had a match-high 23 digs to pace the defense.
Game 2
• Brielle Bumgarner led Carroll (Mont.) with 15 kills.
• Aliyah Williams led the way with 33 assists.
• Ayla Carpenter tallied 22 digs.
UP NEXT
The Saints finish the tournament with two matches tomorrow, Saturday, October 13. The first match is against Huntington (Ind.) at 11:00 a.m. The final match of the tournament for SHU will be against Grace (Ind.) at 2:00 p.m.