BILLINGS, Mont. – Saint Martin's volleyball looked to repeat their season-opening five game win streak of last season with a pair of wins to open the 2022 season.
 
In their first match SMU (2-0) faced South Dakota Mines (0-1) and defeated them in straight sets 25-12, 25-16 and 25-22. In the second match against Chadron State (1-1) the Saints dropped the opening set 25-23 before winning the next two sets 25-15 and 25-13. In the final set, SMU overcame a nine-point deficit to win the set 27-25 and the match 3-1 in dramatic fashion.
 
Freshman middle blocker Loredana Fouonji wasted no time making her presence felt as she led the team with nine kills and tied for the lead in blocks with sophomore Jennifer Soha with five in her first Division-II match. Saint Martin's had seven aces in the opening match from Kylie Coon (3), Maddy Gooding (2) and Abigail Halstead. Halstead led the team in digs with 12 and Karla Soto led the team in assists with 16.
 
In the second match of the day, it was Coon who set the tone and lead the team in kills with 10. The Saints had six aces led by Gooding's four aces followed by Soto and Giselle Benetti with one each. Soto led the team in assists with 35. Halstead (13) and Mackenzie Gilchrist (11) combined for 24 digs.
 
In the fourth set of the second match SMU trailed 10-19 and came all the way back to tie the game 21-21. The two teams traded points back and forth before Coon and Allen put the game away to secure the win for Saint Martin's.
 
The Saints will continue their tournament play tomorrow with their first game at 11 a.m. against MSU Moorhead and their afternoon match against University of Mary at 3 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com.