LACEY, Wash. – The Saint Martin's volleyball team battled from start to finish, but fell short and suffered a three-set loss to Northwest University inside Marcus Pavilion Friday night.
 
The Saints (1-4), who played without senior outside Mackenzie Carter due to injury, struggled to find consistent momentum throughout the match. Northwest University (1-4) capitalized on the Saints' struggling passing and outhit the Saints 35-to-32 in kills to take the victory. 
 
In the opening set, the score was tight throughout, but a mid-set run by the Eagles game them the cushion they needed. The Saints led early 8-7 after a kill by Emily Gooding, and then tied 9-9 after a kill from Gracie Brenner. However, NU put together a 5-0 run to put them ahead, and the Saints couldn't come up with a run of their own to come back from the deficit the rest of the way.
 
The second set started out with the Eagles taking the lead, but the Saints held tight off a kill from Britney Duvall and attack error by Northwest to keep them within two at 11-9. The Eagles scored the next five points in a row, but SMU responded back with five straight points of their own, with two kills coming from Ilana Sagapolutele. After going point-for-point, Northwest went on another five-point run to cushion enough to take the set 25-17.
 
The Saints opened up the third set with fire, taking an early lead off four straight kills coming from Duvall and Gooding. SMU extended their lead off an NU error and two aces from Maddy Gooding, but Northwest grabbed the lead with a 6-1 run. Northwest scored three points in a row to make the score 21-17, but the Saints managed to come within one at 24-23. However, Northwest closed out the game 25-23.
 
The Saints were led by Kylie Coon with eight kills, followed by Duvall with six. Gooding and Sagapolutele each recorded five kills, and Brenner led the Saints in blocks with four. Giselle Benetti led the team defensively with 12 digs, while Analise Hitcock and Zoe Balagot combined for 26 assists.

The Saints play another match against Northwest University tomorrow, April 10 at 5:00 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at smuaints.com.