(CRESTVIEW HILLS, KY) – The Thomas More University women's volleyball team was bested in a five-set match against the visiting Trevecca Nazarene University Trojans Tuesday afternoon in front of an electric crowd, 3-2. They fall to 1-9 overall and 0-2 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).
- After falling behind 11-9, the Saints used a 4-0 push to go ahead 13-11 in set one. Both Emily Acito (Cincinnati, OH / Mercy McAuley) and Sam McClanahan (Georgetown, KY / Scott County) had kills during the run.
- The two teams would battle point for point until it was all square at 23-23.
- Sydney Hilderbran (Cincinnati, OH / Lakota West) got the Saints to a set point at 24-23, but they couldn't put it away as the Trojans snagged the 26-24 set one win.
- The teams traded runs in the second set before Thomas More used a 4-1 rally to take a 16-13 advantage.
- The Trojans would take control of the set with a 9-2 flurry however and come away with the set 25-21 to take a 2-0 match lead.
- The Saints jumped out to an 8-2 lead in set three, with a pair of kills from McClanahan paired with an Acito kill to engineer the run.
- The lead would grow to 22-14 in favor of Thomas More.
- Trevecca Nazarene would not go down quietly though, using a 7-2 run to get within three at 24-21, but the Saints used a Hilderbran kill to hang on and stay in the match.
- Thomas More grabbed another large lead in the fourth set, going ahead 18-12 with the help of four Acito kills and two Hilderbran kills.
- The Saints continued to pour it on, hitting .370 in the set to win 25-19 and force a winner-take-all set five.
- Set five wasn't meant to be for the Saints, as Trevecca Nazarene took a 9-3 lead and wouldn't let up in a 15-8 set win to take the match 3-2.
- Emily Acito led the Saints with 15 kills, while Sydney Hilderbran was right behind her with 14 kills. Acito completed her second double-double of the year, recording a career-high 16 digs to lead the team.
- Sam McClanahan put together her third double-double of the season, dishing out a season-high 47 assists to go along with a season-high 12 digs.
- Asia Ferrando (Masone, Italy / Barletti Ovada) had 14 digs for the Saints.
- Senior Kaitlyn Stivers (Louisville, KY / Eastern) had four aces for Thomas More.
The Saints travel to Midland, Michigan to battle Northwood University in a G-MAC matchup with the Timberwolves on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. The Saints fell to Northwood in non-conference action at the UIndy Invitational, 3-0 on September 8th.
