BURNABY, British Columbia, Canada - Three late rallies by the Saints fell short as Saint Martin's dropped a conference match to Simon Fraser in straight sets on the road. 

The Saints (7-11, 2-8) stormed out to an early lead in the first set, led by kills from Liz Larson and Rachel Gondrezick along with a service ace by Rebecca Mitchell. Later in the set, SMU rallied off six straight points, fueled by kills from Mitchell, to increase their lead to 14-6. Simon Fraser (8-10, 5-5) tied the match at 15-15 on an 8-0 run and took a 21-19 lead after four consecutive points. The Saints battled back to bring the set to set point at 24-23 on kills from Larson and Gondrezick; however, the Clan responded by ending the set on two kills and a service ace.

The momentum carried over for Simon Fraser in the second set, leading off with a 11-4 lead. The Saints chipped away at the lead on a kill from Kamille Langford and capitalized on attacking errors by the Clan. Simon Fraser pulled away 17-8 on a 6-1 run before reaching set point at 24-14. After five straight points for the Saints cut the lead to six, Simon Fraser closed out the set with a kill.

In the final set, Simon Fraser took the early lead, 10-5, before Liz Larson collected a kill, assisted by Jordan Keane and an attack error by SFU shaved the lead to three. Simon Fraser extended their lead to 19-13 when Saint Martin's, highlighted by a Larson kill and Emily Gooding ace, trimmed the lead to 19-16. After a bad set for SMU, Langford and Larson combined for a block and an attacking error by SFU put the Saints within striking distance at 20-18. However, the match ended with Simon Fraser claiming five of the final seven points to seal the three set victory.

"We had a great start in set one but just could not quite finish," said head coach Jon Killingbeck. "May had a great night for Simon Fraser and we must figure out how to slow her down next time."

Leading the attack for SMU was once again Rebecca Mitchell with nine kills on 31 chances for a .226 attacking percentage. Mitchell also recorded five digs and one service ace. Larson tied her season-high in kills with eight on 15 attacks for a staggering .467 attacking percentage. Megan Vernoy and Gondrezick combined for nine kills and Vernoy was credited with three blocks. Keane and Nicolette Nesbitt managed 15 and 12 assists respectively. Defensively, Hannah Neumann tallied a team-leading 13 digs, while Langford led the match with four blocks.

The Saints return home for a five-match home stand, leading off with an exhibition against in-town rival The Evergreen State College on October 17. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with live stats and video available at smusaints.com.