SAINT LEO, Fla. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team opened play at Saint Leo University's Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament with a pair of setbacks on Friday in the Marion Bowman Activities Center. The Purple Knights lost to UVA Wise, 3-0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-13), and Saint Leo, 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-15).
 
TOURNAMENT FACTS

• The Purple Knights faced UVA Wise and Saint Leo each for the first time.
• Saint Michael's is amid its first trip ever beyond the Northeast Corridor.

UVA Wise Match
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-2), UVA Wise (4-1)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 11 assists, 8 digs, 2 aces
• Senior Jillian Orth (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 8 digs
• Junior Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 7 kills
• Sophomore Kyla Farnan (Phoenix, Ariz./Pinnacle), 11 digs, 4 assists
• Sophomore Ashley Marshall (Escondido, Calif./Escondido Charter), 8 assists
• First-year Nora Schulze (Hingham, Mass./Hingham), 9 kills, 4 digs
• First-year D'Niaya Settles (Ames, Iowa/Ames), 5 kills, 5 digs, 2 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Lily Gutierrez, 10 assists
• Senior Kaylee Scarce, 9 kills, 9 digs
• Junior Piper Suddeth, 9 assists, 8 digs

THE ACTION

• Two early kills by Welch had Saint Michael's within 4-3 in the opening set before the Cavaliers netted eight of the next nine points to take control. The Purple Knights trimmed their deficit to 19-15, but UVA Wise scored six of the final seven points.
• In the second set, Welch's kill and Schulze's ace had their team up 3-1, but the Cavaliers countered with a 12-1 run. A late surge made it 20-14 when Settles came up with a solo block before five of the final six points went to UVA Wise.
• Welch's kill keyed a 5-2 start to set No. 3 prior to UVA Wise countering with a 9-2 run. The Purple Knights were down only 16-12 following another Welch kill, but the Cavaliers ended the match with nine of the last 10 points.

Saint Leo Match
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (2-3), Saint Leo (3-2)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Báez Rentas, 20 assists, 5 kills, .455 hitting
• Farnan, 12 digs, 4 assists
• Schulze, 6 kills
• Settles, 8 digs
• Senior Aaliyah Huihui-Martinez (Salinas, Calif./Notre Dame), 7 digs
• Sophomore Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 9 kills

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Tajma Muharemovic, 16 assists, 10 digs
• Junior Paula Perez Rosales, 11 kills, 8 digs
• Junior Anyaliz Rodriguez, 9 kills, 11 digs, 3 aces

THE ACTION

• Schulze's kill had Saint Michael's up 14-13 in the first set until Saint Leo rattled off the next seven points, producing the first three-point lead for either team, behind two aces from Rodriguez and a pair of kills from Perez Rosales. The visitors never came closer than five points down the stretch.
• Welch's kill keyed the Purple Knights' 4-0 start to set No. 2, and the visitors later wiped out a 20-17 deficit with three straight points, which featured first-year Kaeleigh Cucura's (Redmond, Ore./Ridgeview) kill. Three straight Saint Leo kills were met by a Schulze kill and host attack error that made it 23-22 before the Lions benefited from consecutive errors to take the set.
• Báez Rentas' kill provided her team a 4-1 edge in the third set before Saint Leo countered with an 8-2 run. Three straight errors allowed Saint Michael's to tie the teams at 10 before the Lions netted the next eight points to pull away.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Saturday against Valdosta State University (11 a.m.) and Saint Edward's University (3:30 p.m.) at the Lions Volleyball Fall Tournament.