LACEY, Wash. – In 2000, the Saints and the Nighthawks faced off for the first time in volleyball, with Northwest Nazarene taking the match 3-1. Fast forward 18 years, and the Nighthawks were still undefeated against Saint Martin's, 37-0, until Thursday night. 61 kills, and 52 assist by Alyssa Bartlett helped propel SMU to a 3-1 victory inside Marcus Pavilion.
 
The Saints' offense took a whole set to get going, falling 14-25, before the big three in Ililani Kamaka, Megan Vernoy and Rachel Gondrezick combined for 52 kills. Bartlett put together her third career 50 or more assist match, and Courtney Misner had another rock solid game defensively with her 28 digs to complete the four set win.
 
In the opening set, the Nighthawks, after falling behind 5-3, stormed back with a 10-0 run and never looked back. The Saints' offense was unable to stop the bleeding and Northwest Nazarene cruised to the 25-14 win.
 
Saint Martin's flipped the script on the Nighthawks in the second set, starting with a 10-4 run. NNU responded right back with a 8-1 run and looked to be on the verge of running away with the second set. The Saints managed to fight back and keep the score tied at 21-21 before the Nighthawks collected back-to-back points. Trailing by two, the Saints closed out the set with kills by Gondrezick and Kamaka, along with blocks by Vernoy and Bourgouin to rally for the 25-23 win.
 
Neither side was able to gain a serious advantage in the critical third set, with the score being tied 14 times and the leading changing sides four times. The final tie came at the 19-19 score, with a kill by NNU. Kills by Gondrezick and Kamaka sparked the Saints' 8-1 run at the end of the set as SMU pulled away 25-19 for the crucial set win.
 
The fourth and final set began like the third set, with the score tied at 8-8 after back-and-forth play. A combined effort by Bourgouin, Kamaka, Gondrezick and Vernoy lifted the Saints on a 11-2 as Saint Martin's began to once again pull away. The match closed out with the familiar calls of kills by Gondrezick and Vernoy as SMU clinched their first ever win over the Nighthawks of Northwest Nazarene.
 
Kamaka collected 19 kills over the four sets, tying her career-high, which she set earlier this season against Hawaii-Hilo. Joining Kamaka with 20 points in the match was Gondrezick who finished with 16 kills, 16 digs, and four aces.. Vernoy also managed a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs, while Barlett assisted 52 times, and recorded 11 digs as well. Misner led the team with 28 digs.
 
The Saints' 61 kills was the sixth most in the four sets in school history and was the second most the Saints have recorded against NNU. 65 was the most, set back in 2005.
 
The Saints host Central Washington on Saturday, October 27 at 7:00 p.m. to wrap up the home stand. Live stats and video of the match will be available on smusaints.com.