BURNABY, BC, Canada – After falling behind early in the first two sets, the Saints battled back in the third set and forced a fourth set. With the match on the brink of going to a fifth set, the Clan managed to close out the comeback and defeat the Saints 25-20, 25-13, 24-26, 25-23 to open conference action.
 
The Saints (2-5, 0-1) got off to a slow start in Canada against Simon Fraser (4-3, 1-0), but fueled by one of the hottest hitters in the GNAC in Megan Vernoy, the Saints managed to push the match to nearly five sets.
 
In the opening set, the Clan opened with a 10-5 run before the Saints responded with a 7-0 run to take the lead. Two kills from Molly Cichosz and a kill by Emily Gooding led the charge. The Clan answered right back with a 11-2 stretch to secure the first set victory.
 
Simon Fraser controlled the entire second set, jumping out to an 11-4 lead. Despite kills from Vernoy and Rachel Gondrezick, the Clan continued to pull away in the set. A 10-4 run sealed the set in favor of Simon Fraser and a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set proved to be a grind on both sides, with teams making adjustments at halftime. Kills from Cichosz, Alyssa Bartlett and Gondrezick, along with a service ace by Gooding, kept the score tied at 16-16. With 14 ties and the score tied at 17-17 after a Cichosz kill, Courtney Misner put the Saints on top with a service ace. It proved to be the tipping points as Saint Martin's never trailed after the ace. The set came to a close, 26-24, with a service ace from Bartlett.
 
In the final set, the Saints continued to attack and keep the set close. With the score tied 13-13, SMU turned to Vernoy, who rattled off three straight kills to give them the edge. The Clan managed to tie the set up again at 20-20 before a service error by SFU and service ace from Gooding put the Saints within striking distance of a fifth set. Unfortunately, the Clan scored five of the final six points to clinch the four set victory.

"Tonight we fought hard against a really good Simon Fraser team," said head coach Jon Killingbeck. "Our team is learning and growing but we have to find a way to get our offense back on track."
 
Vernoy once again hit the double digit mark in kills, ending with 14 and another impressive hitting percentage of .481. Gooding finished with seven kills, four aces and a .333 hitting percentage, while Gondrezick added eight kills and a team leading 17 digs. Bartlett had 33 assists  and nine digs, and Misner recorded 12 digs and two aces.
 
The Saints' schedule does not get easier this Saturday, traveling to nationally ranked Western Washington. Links to live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.