GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team defeated both Huntington (Ind.) and Grace (Ind.) in five-set thrillers to finish the Aquinas/Cornerstone Classic with a 2-2 record. Ashleigh Shay led the Saints with 30 kills total on the day.
THE BASICS
Final Scores: Game 1: SHU 3, Huntington 2 (30-32, 19-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-4) Game 2: SHU 3, Grace 2 (23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-20, 15-12)
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan (Sturrus Center)
Records: SHU (13-10), Huntington (9-19), Grace (17-12)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1: SHU def. Grace, 3-2
The first game needed extra points before a winner was decided. The Foresters finally edged the Saints 32-30 to earn the 1-0 lead.
Huntington put Siena on its heels after a 25-19 second-set victory put the Foresters up 2-0.
The Saints rallied in the third and cut the deficit in half with a 25-23 win that put the score at 2-1.
SHU continued to put up a fight and was able to force a fifth set after a 25-19 win in the fourth set.
Siena exploded in the fifth set, jumping out to a 7-0 lead to start the game before eventually taking the match with a 15-4 game-five mark.
Game 2: SHU def. Grace, 3-2
Much like the first match of the day, the Lancer took the first two sets with scores of 25-23 and 25-21. The Saints rallied back with set victories of 26-24 and 25-20 to force a deciding set.
The score stayed tight throughout the fifth with Siena obtaining the largest lead of three with a 9-6 gap. Grace would tie things up again at 10 and again at 11, but the Saints would score four of the next five points to take the match with a 15-12 game-five win.
TOP SAINTS
• Christine Tylutki tallied 13 kills in the first match and 14 in the second for a total of 27 on the day. She led the Saints in digs against Huntington with 24 and followed that up with 20 against the Lancers.
• Shay finished match one with 17 kills, three digs, and four blocks. Against Grace, she finished with 13 kills and one block.
• Carrigan Gray tallied 26 assists in the first match and 39 in the second match.
• Madison Sitter recorded 23 assists against the Foresters and 14 in the last match.
• Bianca Negron helped lead the defense with 22 digs against Huntington. She had a team-high 24 digs against the Lancers.
THE OPPOSITION
• Huntington was led by Lauren Creese and Paige Eakright with 13 and 10 kills.
• Jenna Tacosik and Breanna Levings paced the offense with 22 and 21 assists respectively.
• Ariene Butler led the Foresters defense with 38 digs.
• Kelsee Zuidema led the Lancers in the second match with 21 kills.
• Alexa Hill set the tone with 47 assists.
• Gina Novotny finished with 21 digs.
UP NEXT
The Saints return home to face UM-Dearborn on Wednesday, October 17. The match is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m., start time.