SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- The Siena Heights women's volleyball team surrendered a 2-1 lead in a 3-2 loss on the road against Lawrence Tech on Wednesday night. As a result, the Saints (17-6, 12-6 WHAC) drop to 12-6 in league play with just two matches left to determine tournament seedings.
Autumn Anderson was a dig short of a double-double with 14 kills and nine digs in the losing effort. Aline Marinelo had 13 kills on a team-high .500 hitting percentage while also leading the squad with three blocks. Janel Ruhlman contributed with 11 kills while also adding seven digs and two aces. Aubrey Bates was also one dig short of a double-double with a 43 assist, nine dig performance. Payton Osborne led the way defensively with 25 digs, while Kadie Carsten helped with 10.
The Blue Devils rallied back from a 19-12 deficit to tie the score at 23 before a block and error by the Saints gave LTU a 25-23 win and a 1-0 lead.
The Saints used a 15-kill showing in the second set to push past the host and roll to a 25-20 decision that tied the score at one apiece. SHU jumped out to a 9-3 lead before extending things further with a 4-0 run that had things at 13-5. The Blue Devils cut the advantage to three points, but a kill from Ruhlman and Marinelo ended the set in favor of SHU.
The navy and yellow built an eight-point cushion in the third with two runs of three and one of four to push the score to 21-13. LTU cut that in half, but the margin proved too much to recover from, and Siena took the 2-1 lead into the fourth.
Siena Heights built on a slim lead with a 5-0 lead to create a 13-7 edge early in the set. Lawrence Tech captured the lead, 15-13, with three-straight points. The Saints battled back and knotted things up at 17 before the teams traded points to tie at 18. The Blue Devils scored seven straight points to win the set 25-18 and force a decisive fifth frame.
The Blue Devils hopped out to a 5-1 lead early in the fifth, but the Saints would flip the advantage their way with two 3-0 runs to claim a 9-8 lead. The score was tied eight more times from there to a deadlock at 17 points. A service error by SHU gave LTU the match point, and a kill ended things on the next play.
Up Next
The Saints remain on the road with a match against Concordia (Mich.) in Ann Arbor on Friday, November 5. That contest is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.
