ANCHORAGE, AK — Saint Martin's Volleyball (3-8, 1-2 GNAC) falls to conference foe Alaska Anchorage in a competitive four sets.

The first set was a back-and-forth affair that saw both teams making plays across the court. Early contributors included the star trio of Emily Garten, Emmy Hansen, and Jennifer Soha who contributed multiple kills through the first half of the set to keep the Saints on pace with the Seawolves. Zoey Crimin also chimed in with two kills of her own over the first couple of sets, but it would not be enough as SMU would lose the first set 25-21. Alaska Anchorage kept the pressure on Saint Martin's, as they started the second set out hot and would carry their momentum to a very convincing 25-15 second-set victory.

SMU would bounce back in the third set, taking a very swift 19-8 lead. The Saints would find success with Aundrea Oxentine and Tiffany Lam both efficiently distributing the ball to the Saints attackers, combining for almost 40 total assists during the match. Lam would also contribute 10 digs on the defensive side of things. Kingsley Mason also played a crucial role in the third-set turnaround, as her 19 total attacks kept pressure applied to the Seawolf defense all night long. Alaska Anchorage would fight back until the end of the set, but a pair of disciplined plays by the front row allowed the Saints to claim their first and only set of the night, 25-22. The fourth set would begin as a close contest with more offensive prowess shown from Hansen and Garten, but the Saints would ultimately fail to keep up as they would lose 25-15, sealing the match win for Alaska Anchorage.

Mia Arambula and Abigail Halstead once again took the lead at the libero position for the Saints as Madison Thomas and Daniela Gonzalez would also see valuable minutes on the floor. Garten would end the night with a hitting percentage of .400, 18 kills, 14 digs, and 20.5 contributed points while Hansen would finish with an also-impressive .270 hitting percentage, 13 kills, 13 digs, and 16 contributed points.

The Saints take on Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday, September 28, at 3:00 PM PST. See more upcoming contests for SMU Athletics here.