Final Stats

Siena won the final three sets of the match to garner a thrilling five-set (23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 29-27, 15-8) victory. After St. Francis (0-1) took control in the first two sets, Siena (1-0) came back to win three straight sets to take the opening match of the season.

Redshirt freshman Julia Burzynski tallied a career-high 12 kills in the victory, while senior Sonja Vasovic also put up 12 kills. Reigning MAAC Player of the Year Briana Flagg started the season off with a double-double of 11 kills and 20 digs.

The Saints started off the first set with an 8-1 lead over the Terriers. Siena remained in control of the set until St. Francis tied the set 19-19. The Saints would keep the lead until the last moment when the Terriers capitalized off of errors by the Saints and took narrowly took the first set 25-23.

With the Terriers taking set two 25-20 and holding a 2-0 lead over the Saints, Siena knew it was their last chance to make something happen. The third set started off with a lot of back-and-forth action, but after three Siena kills and two errors by St. Francis, the Saints took a 14-9 lead. They would not relinquish the lead and took the third set 25-20.

The fourth set would prove to be the most challenging for both squads. Siena was in control for most of the set until the Terriers used kills to their advantage and tied the set 21-21. The Saints would hold off the Terriers even when they had four opportunities to win both the set and the match. The green and gold held on and forced set five with a 29-27 victory.

Siena libero Kalehua Katagiri led all players with 28 digs.

Once Burzynski picked up the first point for the Saints, the lead would never be given up. Siena continued their rally and took down St. Francis by taking the final three points off the set to take the set 15-8.

The Saints finish up their time at the Virginia Tech/Radford Invitational on Saturday, August 27th. Siena will face Virginia Tech at 12 p.m. on the ACC Network, followed by Appalachian State at 5 p.m.