LACEY, Wash. - The Saints fell in straight sets to the Wolves of Western Oregon (25-15, 25-14, 25-19) to begin the 2017 GNAC conference season.

The Saints (5-4, 0-1 GNAC) took the early advantage over the Wolves (5-3, 1-0) after kills from Megan Vernoy and Rebecca Mitchell put the Saints up 5-2. WOU chipped away at the Saints' lead until they trailed by one at the 10-9 mark. Western Oregon rallied behind a 15-3 run to secure the 25-15 set victory.

The Wolves established control in the second set with another 15-3 run, this time to begin the set. The Saints outscored the Wolves in the second half of the set, 11-10, but ultimately fell 25-14.

In the final set, the Wolves jumped out to an early 9-5 lead. Kills from Rachel Gondrezick and Nicolette Nesbitt jump started the Saints' attack and began a 4-0 run that was highlighted by kills from Emily Gooding, Mitchell, and a service ace by Gooding. The Saints closed Western Oregon's lead to 20-19 before the Wolves ended the match on a 5-0 run.

Mitchell led all Saints with eight kills, followed by Gondrezick and Vernoy with six each. Nesbitt recorded 24 assists to go along with four kills. Hannah Neumann, who got the start at Libero, led SMU with 15 digs. 

The Saints remain at Marcus Pavilion with a match against Concordia on Saturday September 16 at 7:00 p.m. As always, live stats and video will be available at smusaints.com.