ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team went to five sets for the second time against Concordia (Mich.) in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) play. The Saints (18-7, 13-6 WHAC) swept the Cardinals in the season series and improved to 13-6 league play with just one match remaining on the docket.
Janel Ruhlman led the way offensively with 14 kills in the contest. Ruhlman hit for .324 in the match and contributed seven digs, two blocks, and an assist. Olivia Norman registered 12 kills and match-high six blocks in the winning effort. Norman also led SHU with .435 hitting. Kadie Carsten was one kill shy of a double-double as she tallied 18 digs. Aubrey Bates finished the evening with 41 assists, nine digs, and three kills. Bates also led all players with six service aces. Payton Osborne recorded 22 digs to lead the back row. Osborne also chipped in with five assists and an ace. Alli Conly helped out with 16 digs and an ace.
Siena Heights surrendered a 22-18 lead late in the first set as CUAA tied things up at 23 before the teams traded points to 27. Back-to-back kills by the Cardinals gave the home team a 1-0 advantage as the match headed into the second.
The Saints took an early 9-7 lead in the second, but Concordia (Mich.) rattled off a 5-0 run to take the lead 12-9 and would never look back on the way to a 25-16 decision and a big 2-0 lead.
With the match on the line, SHU came out firing in the third as they built a quick 11-4 edge with a 5-0 run and a 4-0 run. The lead grew to 23-15 before CUAA made a late rally with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to four points. Kills by Ruhlman and Bates ended the set in favor of the navy and yellow as the score sat at 2-1.
Siena tallied six of the first eight points in the fourth to build a 6-2 advantage. A 4-0 run by CUAA tied things up before the Saints pulled away again, 14-9. The margin was clipped to two points (15-13), but SHU held on outpaced the Cardinals to a 25-17 victory to force a fifth set.
Concordia (Mich.) earned the first two points of the fifth as the teams played each other close in the opening of the final frame. Siena used a couple of mini runs to eke out a slight 9-7 lead that forced a Cardinal timeout. Coming out of the break, the Saints extended the run to 4-0, and Siena found itself on top 11-7. Bates spiked a kill to give SHU the match point and was in the block with Aline Marinelo to end the match in favor of the guests.
TOURNAMENT SEEDING
With the win, Siena Heights remains in the fourth spot in the WHAC standings with a 13-6 record. The Saints will face Indiana Tech tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. inside the SHU Fieldhouse. The winner of that match will claim the third seed in the WHAC Tournament.
