NAMPA, Idaho – The Saints' offense struggled to find their way around the Nighthawks' defense, committing 23 errors on 29 kills, as Northwest Nazarene swept the Saints on the road.
 
In the first and third sets, the Saints (2-12, 0-8) committed more errors than kills; however, managed to collect 16 kills on seven errors in the second set. The Nighthawks' (4-11, 4-4) offense got better as the night went on, and ended with an outstanding .647 hitting percentage in the final set.
 
In the first set, Northwest Nazarene jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, before the Saints managed to trim the lead down to four on multiple occasions. The early advantage proved to be too much for the Saints to overcome as the Nighthawks won 25-15.
 
Northwest Nazarene once again quickly pounced on the Saints, using an 8-3 run to begin the second set. Kills by Rachel Gondrezick and a service ace by Alyssa Bartlett, fueled the Saints offense as SMU cut the score to 14-11. The Nighthawks responded once again with small 4-1 run to recapture the momentum. Megan Vernoy and Ililani Kamaka pieced together kills down the stretch, but SMU was unable to close the gap in time, falling 25-22.
 
The Nighthawks dominated the final set, closing the match out on an 11-1 run, highlight by six service aces in the final service.
 
Gondrezick, Vernoy and Kamaka each led the Saints in kills with seven, while Molly Cichosz added four kills. Bartlett led the team with 21 assists, while Courtney Misner recorded 16 digs.
 
The Saints return home to face Alaska Anchorage on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Live stats and video of the match will be available on smusaints.com.