October 21, 2017

Gainesville, FL – The Santa Fe Saints gave it all they had on Saturday afternoon against 20 win Hillsborough CC, but came up just short in a five set thriller.  The loss drops SF to 10-14 overall.  They will look to put the loss behind them when they face Pensacola State on Wednesday in Gainesville at 7:00 p.m. in the FCSAA State Tournament play-in game.

The first set between the Saints and Hawks was back and forth and ended 27-25 in favor of HCC after runs by both teams.  SF answered in the second set and took it 25-20 to even the match up at 1-1.

Hillsborough took over the third set early on and pulled away for a 25-25 win but again the Saints answered, winning the fourth set 25-17 to force a fifth and deciding set.  The final set was back and forth and tied at 7-7 nearly half way through.  The Hawks outscored SF 8-4 the rest of the way to take the victory.

"Our team talked about learning from Friday night's loss and bringing that into today's match," said Santa Fe Head Coach Nick Cheronis.  "We took some positive steps that will hopefully prepare us for Wednesday's play-in match."

Sterling Williamson led SF with 11 kills, Aspen Dangren had 10, and Meagan Irish had nine kills and hit .642.

For fans who can't make it to the SF Gym on October 25, the game will be broadcast live on the Saints Sports Network.

For complete schedules, stats, and more information please visit www.santafesaints.com. 

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