Saints Fall to Bears, Top Wolves to Close North Country Invitational

The St. Lawrence University volleyball team wrapped up the first weekend of the 2018 season with another split on the second day of the North Country Invitational Saturday afternoon at Burkman Gymnasium. The Saints fell to the United States Coast Guard Academy, 3-2, in the first match of the day, but rebounded for their second win of the season over Keuka (3-0). Match 1 vs. United States Coast Guard Academy (USCG 3, St. Lawrence 2) After five sets the Bears came from behind to top the Saints 3-2 by scores of 25-19, 27-25, 19-25, 22-25, 9-15. First year Natalie Piper led the Saints with 15 kills, 12 digs, four blocks and three service aces, while Grace Kellytallied 11 kills, 14 digs and one block. Maddy Bishop led the Saints with 22 assists and Ally Good posted a second-best 18 assists. Reagan Collier-Hogan tied Kelly for a team-best 14 digs. "I thought overall we played at a much better level today," said head coach Shelly Roiger. "Coast Guard was a great opponent for us as we prepare for the Liberty League season and it was a dog fight just as we had expected. We got off to a great start and executed the game plan well in sets one and two but they made some nice adjustments and we just weren't able to execute with a sense of urgency when we needed to. We had our chances to put the match away, especially in the late teens of the third set, but we didn't seize the moment. During preseason we talked a lot about grabbing opportunities, and the important lesson of life that if you don't grab an opportunity when it presents itself, someone else will. This was a perfect example of that. We needed to be confidently aggressive and instead we played careful and usually 'careful' in volleyball leads to the opponent scoring."