ROCHESTER, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team defeated Rochester 3-1 in a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) match on Saturday afternoon. Janel Ruhlman (North Branch, Mich.) recorded a double-double in kills (21) and digs (20) to lead the Saints to victory. 

THE BASICS

Final Score: Siena Heights 3, Rochester 1 (24-26, 25-13, 31-29, 25-19)

Location: Rochester, Michigan (Garth Pleasant Arena)

Records: Siena Heights (6-13. 3-9 WHAC), Rochester (2-20, 1-11 WHAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Saints rallied from a 19-11 deficit to tie things up at 24 points in the opening set before the Warriors scored the final two points to edge SHU 26-24 for the 1-0 lead. 

Siena used bursts of points to build a 14-8 lead before a final 5-0 run ended the second set with a 25-13 decision for the Saints and tied the score at one game apiece.

Things got interesting in the third set, as neither team could pull ahead far enough to earn the win before extras. Down 29-28, Ruhlman earned a kill to knot things up at 29. Alli Conly (Linden, Mich.) followed that up with a kill of her own to give SHU a 30-29 advantage before an attack error by the home team gave Siena the set and a 2-1 lead.

The Saints rolled in the fourth set as they built an eight-point lead (20-12) before ending the match with a 25-19 outcome in the fourth.

TOP SAINTS

• Ruhlman led all players with her 21 kills. She also tallied eight blocks, two service aces, and an assist.

• Grace Polomcak (Niles, Mich.) finished with 12 kills and a block.

• Victoria Nerkowski (Mason, Mich.) totaled 11 kills and eight blocks to contribute to the win. 

• Carrigan Gray (Bowling Green, Ohio) earned a double-double with 49 assists and 14 digs.

• Karsyn Wolf (Temperance, Mich.) finished with a match-high 28 digs to lead the Siena defense.

• Conly finished with eight kills, five assists, three blocks, and 24 digs.

THE OPPOSITION

• Jaelynn Block and Stepanie Bradley led Rochester with 10 kills.

• Zoe Earl paced the Warrior attack with 40 assists.

• Jenna Pomaville led with 25 digs.

UP NEXT

The Saints will stay on the road this Wednesday, October 23 as they face UM-Dearborn in a WHAC matchup beginning at 7:00 p.m., EST.