The Webster University women's volleyball team won its ninth straight match, winning 3-0 at Fontbonne University, on September 21 in Clayton, MO. The Gorloks solidified their hold on first place in the SLIAC at 8-0.
The teams battled back and forth throughout
set one. Webster and Fontbonne were tied at 23-23, but the Griffins took a 24-23 lead and had set point. A Torie Grassi (JR, St. Louis, MO/Rosati-Kain) kill tied it at 24-24 as Fontbonne called a timeout. Freshman Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, MO/Francis Howell) had service and was not rattled as she served an ace to give Webster set point at 25-24. Farrah served another ace and the Gorloks had set one, 26-24.
Statistically, the two teams were pretty even across the board with no particular stat advantage standing out in the set.
In
set two, once again the teams traded points early on. Webster had a 12-9 lead with a pair of kills each by Samantha Budrovich (JR, St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South) and Samantha Kruse (FR, Waterloo, IL/Waterloo). Kills by Emi Beining (SR, Festus, MO/Lutheran South) and a pair by Sarah Jacobs (SO, Carbondale, IL/Murphysboro) extended the Gorloks lead to 17-12. A couple Griffin attack errors and service error helped the Gorloks build a 23-14 lead. A kill by Ashley Robinson (SR, Bloomington, IL/Bloomington) finished off the set for Webster at 25-14. The Gorloks had a good set at the net, increasing their attack average on the evening to .254.
The Griffins jumped out in front, 8-4, in
set three. Kills by Farrah and Budrovich, a service ace by Maria Soffner (SR, Creve Coeur, MO/Incarnate Word Academy), and another kill by Budrovich put the Gorloks in the lead at 10-8 and prompted a Fontbonne timeout. by Farrah, Beining, and Jacobs extended the lead to 13-9. Once the Gorlok express got rolling, it was hard for hard tor the Griffins to slow it down as Webster took a 17-11 lead. Fontbonne managed to cut into the lead, closing within three at 18-15 but a kill by Kruse and a Griffin attack error made it 20-15. Webster closed out the set, 25-19, and won the match.
Budrovich and Kruse wound up with eight kills each in the match. Kelsey Hamann (JR, Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) had 19 assists and Soffner had 19 digs. The Gorloks wound up with a .231 attack pct. for the night.
The last time these teams met, Fontbonne broke a Webster 21-match win streak over the Griffins with a 3-2 win at Fontbonne, on October 26, 2016.
The last time Webster had a nine-match win streak was in 2008. The next longest streak for Webster is 10 in a row in 2007. Webster's longest win streak is 13 in 1997, and the second longest came in 1994 when the Gorloks won 12 in a row as they finished 20-5.
Webster in 9-3 overall and 8-0 in the SLIAC. Fontbonne is 3-5 in the SLIAC and 4-8 overall. The Gorloks travel to Eureka College (IL) on September 26.
