Living up to its billing as the SLIAC Game of the Week, the Webster University at Spalding University volleyball match was thrill-packed, but the Gorloks came out on the short end, losing 3-1 to the Golden Eagles.  The outcome tightened up the race for first place in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as four teams are jostling for the title.

After winning the first, the Gorloks dropped three straight hard-fought sets to the Golden Eagles.  In set one, Webster opened up a 5-1 lead.  Spalding would tie it at 13-13, starting a run of five ties and three lead changes before Webster took four straight points for a 21-17 lead.  The Gorloks kept control as they won 25-20, finishing on a Macee Owen (SO, Tucson, AZ/Empire) kill.

Spalding tied the match up in set two, this time the Golden Eagles took firm control with an 8-1 lead.  Webster closed to within 13-11, but that is the closest they would get the rest of the set as Spalding won, 25-20.

In set three, Spading took a 4-0 lead but Owen served the Gorloks to within one at 4-3.  The teams were tied at 7-7 when the Golden Eagles went on a 7-2 run to take a 14-9 lead.  After a  Webster timeout, both teams traded points but Spalding built a 16-10 lead.  The Gorloks climbed to within 17-15, forcing a Golden Eagle timeout, but Webster would tie the set at 17-17.  Spalding took a 20-17 lead, but Webster fought back and tied the set at 23-23.  The Golden Eagles took the next two points for a 25-23 set win, and led 2-1 in the match.

Spalding took the first point but Webster took the next four for a 4-1 lead in the fourth.  The match was tied at 8-8 when the Golden Eagles took a timeout.  Spalding went on a 7-2 run for a 15-11 lead, prompting a Webster timeout.  The Gorloks scored a point out of the timeout, but the Golden Eagles came right back and opened up a 22-13 lead.  Webster fought back, taking seven of eight points to cut the deficit to 23-20.  After another Golden Eagle timeout, Spalding and Webster traded points, but Spalding got the winner for the set, 25-21, and the match, 3-1.

Webster had a respectable .231 attack percent as a team with 45 kills, but Spalding hit at a .252 clip and had 54 kills as a team.  The Golden Eagles also won the battle of the net with 15 blocks total to the Gorloks' 10.  A whopping 15 service errors by Spalding helped keep the Gorloks in the match.

Owen led Webster with 10 kills for the match and had a .348 attack percent, and had 14 digs as well.  Kelsey Hamann (SO, Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) led with 18 assists, and Katie O'Toole (SR, St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South) had a team-high 18 digs. 

The SLIAC race for first reallly tightened up the past couple weeks, partly due to big wins by Webster over Greenville College and Westminster College.  With the outcome of this match, Greenville holds down the top spot at 12-2, followed by Westminster at 9-3 and Webster and Spalding each at 11-4 each.

Webster is now 15-8 overall on the season as Spading improves to 17-8.  This was the Gorloks' second lost to Spading, losing at Grant earlier this season, 3-0.

The Gorloks continue their Kentucky trip, playing Transylvania University (KY) and Kean University (NJ) in Lexington, KY, on October 22.  Webster resumes play in the SLIAC with a match at Fontbonne University on October 26.