The Siena Volleyball team closed their weekend at the Rumble in the Rockies on Saturday afternoon, as they fell to the Wyoming Cowgirls by a final score of 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 28-26). Senior
Abby Huffman led the charge with 10 kills and six blocks. In addition, both graduate student
Emily Wunder and junior
Gracie Halley were named to the All-Tournament team.
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"This was a very gratifying match in spite of the loss because I felt like our team grew right before my eyes," said head coach
Vilis Ozols. "We got great production from our middles Shannon and Abby, We picked up our defensive intensity and ran our system defensively and offensively. Our team played eye-to-eye with a very good team today."
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To go with Huffman's performance was seven kills apiece from Wunder and sophomore
Greta Stjade. Sophomore
Meghan Johnsson led the Green and Gold in both assists and digs, finishing with 20 assists and eight digs. Freshman
Claire Isaksen also tossed out 14 assists, while Halley finished with seven digs.
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For Wyoming, KC McMahon smacked 13 kills to lead the Cowgirl offense. Naya Shime collected eight kills. At the net, Lexie Collins was a force with eight blocks, while Kaitlyn Gehler provided the defense with a team-high 13 digs. Kyra Slavik tossed out 14 assists with Payton Chamberlain providing 12 assists as well.
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The Green and Gold came out with some energy in the first set, as they had an early 6-4 lead after a kill form freshman
Olga Sawinska. But Wyoming would fins their stride, and keep that moving through the second set, as the Cowgirls would score in spurts and small runs to top the Saints 25-16 and 25-19 to take a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.
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In the third, Siena would gain the advantage early, as Huffman and freshman
Shannon Dunkin both continued to play well at the net. A kill by Sawinka late gave the Saints a 22-15 lead as they closed in on a victory in the set. However, Wyoming popped off for a 6-0 run to come back within a point at 22-21. The following two points would fall in favor of the Saints thanks to a kill from Huffman and an attack error by Wyoming. With the score 24-21 and set point, Wyoming would score four straight points to run up a 25-24 score. The Saints battled into extra points, but would fall 28-26 in the set ending the match.
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The Saints will return to action next weekend, starting on Friday, Sept. 3 when the Saints take on Providence and New Hampshire at the Holly Young Invitational hosted by the University of New Hampshire. The Saints first match against the Friars gets things started around 12:30 p.m.
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