MEADVILLE, Pa.—The Marymount (Va.) University women's volleyball team encountered a strong Allegheny College squad on Friday night. The Saints battled their way through four sets, but couldn't hang on and fell short, 3-1 (23-25, 14-25, 25-23, 21-25) to the Gators. Junior Cailyn Thomas came out swinging to obtain a match-high and career-high of 17 kills for the Saints. 

The momentum shifted back and forth in set one, until Allegheny went on a 5-0 run forcing Marymount to take a timeout. The timeout, however, proved useful as the Saints followed up with a 5-0 run themselves. Their run started with a kill by freshman Caroline Hanson followed by an attack error from the Gators. Two more kills would come from senior Morgan McAlpin and sophomore Margaret McAlpin. Marymount and Allegheny would continue trading points until the Gators would finish the set on a 3-0 run. 

In set two, the Gators took an early 6-1 lead that proved to be too much for the Saints to recover from. Thomas set the tone on offense for both teams with a set high of four kills. Morgan and junior Emileigh Rettig also racked up two kills a piece.  A kill by Allegheny's Hannah Cubarney ended the second set. 

The Saints jumped to a 1-0 lead after a kill by Hanson to open the third game. The Gators answered to took a 7-2 lead before the Saints would climb their way back following a kill by Morgan. The teams battled back and forth until Marymount tied the game at 22 on a kill from Rettig. Thomas put the final touch on the set with back-to-back kills to win 25-23. 

The fourth set started with an early kill from Thomas to put the Saints up 1-0. The Gators followed with a 5-0 run before the Saints would answer. Later Marymount would take the lead at 10-9, after a 3-0 run led by back-to-back kills from Thomas, and a kill by Rettig. The Saints would go point for point with the Gators until a 3-0 run that ended the set with a block by Allegheny's Leah Franzluebbers. 

Thomas led the team with 17 kills, followed by Morgan who added 14 kills for the Saints. Sophomore Ashley Cabrera led the team in assists after racking up 21 on the match. 

Allegheny's Taylor Samuel and Julia Weeks led their team with 10 kills a piece, and Justine Kelly had a match-high 34 assists. 

The women will continue play at Allegheny College on Saturday, September 19, facing two more squads before traveling back to Virginia. The Saints will face Thiel College at 11 a.m., followed by Lycoming College at 1 p.m., on Saturday, September 19.