LACEY, Wash. - Saint Martin's fell short against nationally ranked Western Washington on Saturday night, dropping a three-set contest in Marcus Pavilion. 
 
Western Washington came out swinging in the first set, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and forcing the Saints into an early timeout. Saint Martin's gained some momentum with a 5-1 run in the middle of the set, but struggled to stop the Vikings' offense that earned them an opening set win.  
 
Saint Martin's took an early 7-5 lead behind the efforts of Mackenzie Carter's kill and Ililani Kamaka's ace. Western Washington went on a 20-2 run, quickly switching the momentum to end the set and take a 2-0 lead into the break. 
 
The Saints and Vikings went back and forth for a majority of the third set. Back-to-back kills by Emily Gooding gave the Saints a 13-12 lead, but WWU answered with a 3-0 run to regain the edge. Kills by Carter and Alyssa Bartlett tied up the scores at 15-15 and 18-18 respectively. Western Washington battled back with a 7-2 run to end the match. 
 
Carter led all players with 11 kills while Kamaka led all players with three aces. Bartlett racked up 22 assists while putting down two kills. Kylie Alos led the defense with 12 digs. 
 
Saint Martin's matches up against Seattle Pacific on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m. with live stats and video at smusaints.com.