LACEY, Wash. – The Saints needed to be perfect tonight to snap the losing streak to Seattle Pacific, which extends back 2001, but nine service aces and 18 attacking errors resulted in a three set sweep by Seattle Pacific at home.
 
Megan Vernoy put together her fourth straight match with double-digit kills, collecting 11 to lead the Saints' offense. However, the Saints' who entered the match with a GNAC best mark in serving per set, was unable to string together points and continue any momentum against the Falcons. Seattle Pacific only committed four attacking errors over the first two sets and hit .320 as a team.
 
The Saints and the Falcons came out in the first set, tied at 7-7 after a kill by Molly Cichosz. Seattle Pacific began pulling away in the set with a 8-2 run to stretch the score to 15-9. Kills by Ililani Kamaka and Vernoy attempted to jumpstart the offense; however, the Falcons cruised to a 25-15 set win.
 
The Saints fell behind early in the second set, but managed to trim the lead down to 19-16 after back-to-back kills by Rachel Gondrezick. Despite the Saints regaining some momentum and attempting to tie the match at 1-1, Seattle Pacific closed out the set on a 6-0 run to win 25-16.
 
In the final set, the Saints' offense started to find some more rhythm halfway through. Trailing 20-12, the Saints used a 7-1 run to cut the lead to two, highlighted by a kill and ace by Gondrezick. The Falcons fought off kills by Vernoy and Kamaka in the final points to win the set and match 25-21.
 
Vernoy's 11 kills led the team, while Gondrezick ended with nine kills and four digs. Cichosz finished the match with seven kills, and Kamaka had six kills and eight digs. Alyssa Bartlett picked up 21 assists and two kills.
 
The Saints travel to Montana State Billings on Thursday, with the match starting at 6:00 p.m. Live stats and video of the match will be available on smusaints.com.