The Santa Fe Saints hosted the South Florida State Panthers in an out of conference matchup. The Saints are coming off a 0-3 home loss to the Daytona State Falcons on Saturday, and the Panthers are coming off a 0-3 away loss to the Gulf Coast State Commodores Saturday night.

The Saints won in 4 sets 26-24, 23-25, 25-12, and 25-18.

The Panthers jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first set, and the Saints won the next 3 to cut the deficit to 3-5. A Larissa Seger-Griebler kill brought the score to 6-7. The Saints called their first timeout after going down 8-11. Aliyah Nields had a kill following the timeout, and a block by Nields would bring back service for the Saints at 17-19, and the Panthers called their first timeout at 18-19. The Saints had a service error following the timeout, but a kill by Maria Contreras won back service. A kill by Nields tied the set 20-20. Another kill by Nields gave the Saints their first lead at 21-20. The Panthers used their final timeout at 22-20 after a service ace by Seger-Griebeler. The Saints called their final timeout after the Panthers tied the set 24-24. An Albany Blanco kill gave the Saints set point, and a Riley Solomon kill gave the saints a 26-24 set win.

A Blanco kill gave the Saints a 2-1 lead in the second set, but the Saints fell behind 7-12 and called their first timeout. A couple spikes by Nields brought the Saints back to 14-15, and the Panthers called their first timeout after the Saints tied the set 15-15. A Nields service ace and Blanco kill gave the Saints an 18-17 lead. The Saints extended the lead to 20-17, but they used their final timeout after several errors brought them to a 20-21 deficit. The Panthers used their final timeout after the Saints took a 22-21 lead. The Panthers went on to win the set 25-23.

The Panthers called their first timeout after the Saints took a 7-3 lead, highlighted with kills by Soraya Nacero and Seger-Griebeler. A Seger-Griebeler spike extended the lead to 11-3, and the Panthers used their final timeout after the Saints went up 17-6. A Blanco kill gave the Saints a 25-12 set win.

Blanco kept it going with a spike to start the fourth set. In a moment of déjà vu, the Panthers used their first timeout after the Saints took a 7-3 lead. Following the timeout, the Panthers tied the set 7-7 and 10-10. A service ace by Seger-Griebeler and a pair of kills by Nields gave the Saints a 16-11 lead. A Blanco kill forced the Panthers to use their final timeout as the Saints extended the lead to 19-12. The Saints won the final set 25-18 off of a Panthers service error.

The Saints will travel to the #2 Miami-Dade Sharks on Friday night at 6:00PM for a Citrus Conference matchup. The 13-2 Sharks are coming off a 3-0 win at the Indian River State Pioneers Saturday night.

Article by: Bryan Denton