LACEY, Wash. – For the first time since 2012, Saint Martin's managed to take a set off Western Washington, falling in four 25-19, 25-17, 21-25, 25-19 on Saturday night.
 
Emily Gooding led the Saints (7-9, 1-6) with 13 kills, along with 13 digs, while SMU as a team collected 47 kills on 161 swings and 34 errors. Western Washington (9-4, 5-1) finished with 46 kills on 143 swings, but only committed 11 hitting errors.
 
Western Washington jumped out to an early 8-3 in the opening set. Saint Martin's managed to cut the lead down to two three different times but was never able to completely close the gap. Western Washington closed out the set with an ace from Calley Heilborn.
 
Saint Martin's responded with a 6-2 start to the second set, but the momentum was flipped after a 9-1 run by Western Washington. The Vikings' lead dropped to as little as two before WWU claimed four the final six points to win 25-17.
 
The Saints turned the momentum around in the third set, jumping out to the 14-8 lead. Western Washington attempted a comeback, whittling the lead down to just 20-19. Down the stretch, the Saints turned to their middle blockers, Gracie Brenner, Jennifer Soha, and right-side Emily Gooding who sealed the set victory with four kills.
 
However, the momentum did not carry over into the fourth and final set, as Western Washington put away the Saints with 16 kills in the frame.
 
Tia Allen finished with nine kills, and 11 digs, while Soha and Kylie Coon added seven kills each. Analise Hitchcock recorded 34 of the Saints' 39 assists, and Abigail Halstead, with Kylie Alos combined for 28 digs in the back row.
 
Saint Martin's begins a three-game road trip, starting at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, October 14 at 6:00 PM. Live stats and video of the match will be available on smusaints.com.