OLYMPIA, Wash. — The Saint Martin's Volleyball team lost its home opener against Northwest Nazarene in three sets at the Costantino Recreation Center on the campus of Evergreen State College on Friday, September 26.
The first two sets were neck-and-neck, but ultimately tilted toward the Nighthawks at the end, before NNU won the third set by a large margin. The defeat dropped the Saints' record to 5-7 on the season and 1-3 in GNAC play.
How It Happened
- Northwest Nazarene pulled ahead early in the first set, leading 13-6 midway through. Saint Martin's rode a massive 9-3 run midway through that brought the set to 20-19 in favor of the Saints. Each team exchanged two points each after this point in the set, before a crucial 4-0 run by the Nighthawks closed out the set with NNU winning 25-22. Saint Martin's hit .353% as a team in the first frame.
- The second set followed a similar cadence, as the Nighthawks pulled ahead early, before a 5-1 run by the Saints tied the game at 8-8. NNU embarked on an 8-1 run midway through, putting SMU behind 18-12. In a set of runs, Saint Martin's later went on a 7-2 run to pull within 22-21 late in the frame. Northwest Nazarene rattled off three of the last four points, pulling ahead 25-22 and winning on a service ace to take the second set.
- Northwest Nazarene hit .276% in the third set and carried out a sizable victory, after starting off the set on a 10-1 run. Saint Martin's rattled off a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 11-6, but another big run saw the Nighthawks push back ahead 18-7. Northwest Nazarene later saw another 6-0 run push the visitors ahead 24-9. Saint Martin's answered with a 3-0 run, but NNU tallied a kill to secure a 25-12 third-set win and take the match in three sets.
Top Performers
- Sophie Fast led the way with 21 assists, a match-high. She also led the Saints with 10 digs.
- Emily Garten led the Saints with 10 kills, and added seven digs and one ace. With Garten's ace today, she moved up to seventh all-time in career aces by any GNAC player in the conference's history.
- Zoey Crimin recorded six kills, one ace, two blocks, and one assist.
Up Next
The Saints will return to Evergreen State College on Sept. 27 to host No. 23 Central Washington at 4 p.m.
