The Siena volleyball team faced a tough result Friday afternoon at the Lafayette Invitational, as the Green and Gold were nipped 3-2 to the Delaware State Hornets after leading in the match 2-0.  

Freshman Ally-Reese Williams upped her career-high in kills with 18, while junior Dakota Jackson put up a strong match with her first double-double of the season with 16 kills and 12 digs. Freshman Maria Llinas had the top performance, collecting 50 kills and a team-high 17 digs. Sophomore Abby Huffman was also strong offensively, falling one kill short of tying her career high, finishing with 11. Gracie Halley also had a strong contribution on defense with 15 digs. Freshman Isabella Ultsch also had a solid match with eight kills and a team-high three block assists.
 
For Delaware State, Ryanne Burnett led the way with 17 kills and a .341 attack percentage to pair with 11 digs for a double-double. Anadys Valentin backed up Burnett's performance with 15 kills and a .400 attack percentage. Jelena Dukic tossed out 46 assists to facilitate the offense. Jasmal Cruz added a team-high 14 digs in the win for the Hornets.
 
"As close as that match was I think the team will feel like we let one slip away," said head coach Vilis Ozols. "They played an intense close match but came up short. We lost as a team and our challenge will be to come back from this and play up to our capabilities tomorrow."
 
The Saints used an early 9-2 run to take an 11-5 lead early in the first set. That early cluster of points proved pivotal across the set, as both squads rallied back and forth with points. However, the Saints were able to maintain a strong five point lead through a majority of the set, taking the win 25-20 thanks to a kill from Jackson to wrap up the set.
 
The second set would play just a close as the first, as Siena struggled to get a lead at most points throughout. The Saints and Hornets jostled to an 18-18 tie before Delaware State scored an extra two points in a row to take a 20-18 lead. After both sides traded jabs with a 21-19 score, the Saints came through with four straight points that included kills from Williams and Ultsch. With the score now 23-21 in favor of the Green and Gold, they would hold on to take a 25-23 win to go up 2-0 in the match.
 
Things went south for the Saints in set three, as it stood 21-21 toward the back end of the set. Two straight Siena attack errors and a Hornet kill from Burnett would give Delaware State the 24-21 advantage, which Burnett finished off a point later for the 25-22 set win to cut the Siena lead to 2-1. The Hornets rode the momentum to a strong fourth set win, 25-19, to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
The Hornets owned the fifth set early, and looked poised to shut the door leading 12-7 over halfway through. However, a pair of Delaware State attack errors and a kill by Ultsch brought the Green and Gold back within a pair, 12-10. After Burnett scored again for the Hornets, Ultsch struck again with a kill, followed by a pair of clutch kills from Williams to tie things up at 13-13. But Delaware State would snag the final two points of the set, taking the 15-13 set win, and match win 3-2.
 
Siena returns to the court tomorrow, Saturday, Sept. 14 with a doubleheader match to conclude the Lafayette Invitational. They will square off with Merrimack College at 10 a.m., followed by a matchup with host Lafayette at 5:30 p.m.