SYLVANIA, Ohio -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team downed Lourdes in five sets on Friday night. Janel Ruhlman (North Branch, Mich.) recorded her third-straight double-double with 20 kills and 11 digs.

THE BASIC

Final Score: Siena Heights 3, Lourdes 2 (23-25, 25-22, 27-25, 14-25, 15-10)

Location: Sylvania, Ohio (Ebeid Rec Center)

Records: Siena Heights (8-13, 5-9 WHAC), Lourdes (10-13, 7-8 WHAC)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set one remained close as the teams tied six times before a 4-0 run by Lourdes gave them a 15-9 lead before they earned the 25-23 win and the 1-0 lead.

The Gray Wolves built a 14-10 lead, but the Saints used a 4-0 run to tie things up at 16. A 3-0 run by Lourdes cuts the Saint lead to two (24-22) but Siena scored the last point to knot things up at one game each.

The Saints rallied from a 19-14 Gray Wolf lead to tie things at 22 and take the lead. Lourdes would bring things even at 24 to force extra points to have a winner. Siena Heights would eke out the win (27-25) to take the 2-1 lead.

The fourth set is all Gray Wolves as they built an 18-10 advantage before earning the 25-14 victory to force a decisive fifth set. 

The Saints jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fifth before Lourdes cut it to one point (5-4). With things at 12-10 in favor of the Saints, SHU rattled off a 3-0 run to end the match and earn the 3-2 conference win.

TOP SAINTS

• Ruhlman led the team in kills (20) and hitting percentage (.242) in the winning effort.

• Grace Polomcak (Niles, Mich.) totaled 13 kills, six digs, three blocks, and a service ace to help with the victory.

• Carrigan Gray (Bowling Green, Ohio) achieved her 11th double-double with 39 assists and 13 digs in the match.

• Anna Tartarian (Monroe, Mich.) led with a team-high 24 digs.

• Alli Conly (Linden, Mich.) had 17 digs, seven kills, three aces, and one block.

THE OPPOSITION

• Kennedy Ames led the Gray Wolves with 17 kills.

• Megan Vayansky paced the attack with 34 assists.

• Alli Pasencio had a match-high 25 digs.

WHAC STANDINGS

With the win, the Saints move three games ahead of Concordia (Mich.) to hold onto the eighth spot in the league standings. Lourdes falls to 7-8 with the loss but remains in seventh place.

UP NEXT

Siena Heights stays on the road for a match with Concordia (Mich.) in Ann Arbor tomorrow. The match is scheduled to start at 5:00 p.m., EST.