BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Facing the 18th-ranked team in the country on their home floor, the Saints fell in three sets to Western Washington.
 
Saint Martin's (10-13, 3-10) narrowly fell in the first and third set, powered on the night by Emily Gooding's 11 kills. Tia Allen added nine of her own, along with Kylie Coon at eight. Analise Hitchcock led the way with 29 assists, and Kylie Alos, Giselle Benetti, and Abigail Halstead combined for 29 digs.
 
Western Washington (16-4, 12-1) jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the opening set. Kills from Emily Gooding, and an ace from Hitchcock jumpstarted the Saints as the game was tied at 15-15, and 19-19. The Vikings rallied down the stretch, taking four the final six points to win the set 25-22.
 
The Vikings controlled a majority of the second set, jumping out to an early 10-3 and coasted for a 25-15 set victory.
 
Saint Martin's quickly regrouped in the final set, holding a 13-8 lead by capitalizing on Western Washington errors, and kills from Coon. Saint Martin's led as late as 23-21 in the set, on the verge of a fourth set. However, the Vikings once again rallied, coming up with four straight points to win the match 25-23.
 
Saint Martin's continues north to face Simon Fraser on Saturday, November 6 at 7:00 PM. Live stats and video of the match will be available on smusaints.com.