Gainesville, FL

Santa Fe (7-4) hosted the St. Johns River State College Vikings (8-5)  in what was a five set clash on Tuesday night. The Saints came away with a 3-2 victory and improve their record to 8-4. 

The Saints took a 5-4 lead in the first set with a kill by Emily Geaquinto and a block by Linnea Preston. The Vikings took the lead at 8-7, and they extended their lead to 12-9. Following a timeout, the Saints scored four points in a row to take a 15-14 lead, led by a service ace by Madison Howard and a kill by Preston. Geaquinto added back-to-back aces to extend the Saints' lead to 18-15. The Vikings tied the set 20-20, and the Saints regained the lead 23-22 with a kill by Selena Placide and an ace by Emmy Rowland. The Saints won the first set 25-23 with a kill by Ife Talabi.

The Saints took a 6-2 lead in the second set with an ace by Madison Howard and a kill by Geaquinto. A block by Preston, a kill by Mariana Haas, and an ace by Geaquinto extended the lead to 11-3. The Vikings tied the set at 16-16 and 21-21. A kill by Haas gave the Saints the lead, but the Vikings took the lead at 24-23. Geaquinto tied the set 24-24, and a kill by Kailyn Howard gave the Saints a 26-25 lead. An ace by M. Howard gave the Saints a 27-25 set two win.

The Vikings took a 9-4 lead in the third set. The Saints tied the set 10-10 and took the lead 13-12. The Vikings regained the lead 20-19, but a kill by K. Howard gave the lead back to the Saints 21-20. The Vikings took the third set 25-23.

Emmy Rowland kicked off the third set with an ace, and Ife Talabi added a kill to give the Saints a 3-0 lead. The Vikings took the lead 4-3, and they extended the lead to 10-4. The Vikings held on to take the fourth set 25-12.

Three aces by Charlotte Mongin led the Saints to a 6-0 lead in the fifth set. The Vikings cut the lead to 9-7, but a kill by Haas extended the lead to 11-7 and forced the Vikings' final timeout. Haas added another kill following the timeout, and the Saints won the final set 15-10 from an ace by Sophie Thompson.

The sets went 25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 11-25, 15-10 in favor of the Saints. 

Catch the next Saints home game when they take on St. Leo University on Thursday, September 11th at 6:00pm in the Santa Fe Gymnasium.