CLAYTON, Mo. - Webster University concluded play here Saturday afternoon in the Fontbonne Quadrangle by posting a three-set sweep over Spalding (25-15, 25-20, 25-18) in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference at the Dunham Student Activities Center on the Fontbonne University campus.

The win over Spalding extended Webster's win streak to 13 consecutive matches and improves its record to 17-7 overall and 15-2 in the SLIAC. The 13 match win streak is the longest in school history and tied for the sixth longest active streak in NCAA Division III volleyball. Spalding fell to 1-25 overall and 0-15 in the SLIAC.

Saturday's match with Spalding was Webster's second of the day at the Fontbonne Quadrangle as they opened Saturday's action with a three-set victory over Fontbonne to sweep the season series from the Griffins. 

Against Spalding, Webster, who has now won 39 consecutive straight sets since falling 3-0 to then 10th-ranked WashU on Sept. 20, recorded 48 kills, hit .213 and had six aces, including four aces from sophomore outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo).

Leading the way for Webster's offense was senior right side hitter Torie Grassi (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) as she had a match-high 11 kills and has now recorded double-digit kills in five consecutive matches. In addition to Grassi, junior middle hitter Taylor Kissel (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) tied a season high with eight kill and hit .286, while Kruse and senior outside hitter Samantha Budrovich (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) each had seven kills.

Defensively, Webster held Spalding to an .091 attack percentage, outblocked the Golden Eagles, 5-4 and recorded 79 digs, including senior libero Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) finishing with a match-high 27 digs to push her school record single season total to 688 digs. Along with Farrah, Kruse added 19 digs and senior setter Kelsey Hamann (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) posted her second consecutive double-double as she had 15 digs and 21 assists and is now 52 digs shy of joining the school's 1,000 Dig Club.

The first set, which featured seven ties and two lead changes, was close early on as neither team took control until Webster used a 12-2 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 19-10 lead. The run was capped by an ace from Kruse, who had three of her four aces in the opening set. Spalding would score four fo the next seven points to drop WU's lead to 22-14, before the Gorloks closed the set by scoring three of the final four points to seal the 25-15 win. In the set, both teams struggled to hit efficiently as WU hit .024 and Spalding hit -.027. 

Webster never trailed in the second set as they scored the first two points and led 19-13 when Spalding responded by scoring seven of the next 12 points to pull within 24-20. That would be as close as the Golden Eagles would get as junior right side hitter Sarah Jacobs (Carbondale, Ill./Murphysboro) ended the set with a kill to seal WU's 25-20 win. In the set, WU hit .219 with 20 kills, while Spalding hit .167. 

Spalding opened the third set by scoring eight of the first 12 points to take an 8-4 lead, before the Gorloks used a 6-4 run to pull within 12-10. After a kill by Samantha Robison gave the Golden Eagles a 13-10 lead, WU responded with an 8-2 run to push in front, 18-15. The run was keyed by a combined five kills from freshman middle hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) and Grassi. A ball handing error by Hamann stopped WU's run and following that error, the Gorloks closed out the set by scoring seven of the set's final nine points to seal the 25-18 win. In the set, WU hit .417 and had 17 kills, including five from Grassi, while Spalding hit .100. 

Amanda Patterson paced Spalding with seven kills, while Mya Summers added six kills, 14 digs and hit .300 in the loss. 

Webster will close out the SLIAC portion of its schedule this coming Wednesday, Oct. 24 as they travel to Louisville, Ky., for a 5 p.m. CDT match at Spalding. With a win on Wednesday, Webster will claim at least a share of the regular season SLIAC title as the Gorloks are currently a half-game ahead of Greenville (14-2) for first place in the league standings.