WEBSTER GROVES – Webster University used a season-high 156 digs, including a school record 57 digs from sophomore libero Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) here Saturday afternoon to outlast fourth-seeded Westminster in five sets (25-27, 25-20, 25-18, 26-28, 15-10) in the first semifinal of the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament at Grant Gymnasium on the Webster University campus.
 
With the win, Webster improves to 19-11 overall and advances to Saturday's 7 p.m. SLIAC Tournament Championship match against No. 2 seeded Greenville, who earned its spot in the final following its three-set semifinal win over No. 3 seeded Principia College (25-15, 25-21, 25-15). Westminster ends its season with a 13-14 record. 
 
The 156 digs by the Gorloks were three short of the school record of 159 digs set in a five-set match against Fontbonne on Nov. 2, 2002. Despite coming up just short of a team record, Webster's 156 digs were the most recorded in a match this season by an NCAA Division III school as the previous high was 149 set by Saint Vincent in its match on Oct. 11 against Chatham. 
 
Farrah's 57 digs bettered the old single match record of 50 set by Katie O'Toole against Augustana on Oct. 11, 2013. In addition, the 57 digs is tied for the most digs in a match by a Division III player this season as Rhode Island College's Marisa Brynes, who had 57 digs in a match on Oct. 27 against Keene State. 
 
For the match, the teams combined for 31 ties and 16 lead changes and each team finished with 57 kills and combined to record 512 attacks and 302 digs as Webster recorded a school record 251 attack attempts to go along with its 156 digs. Westminster had 261 attack attempts and 146 digs in the match that lasted nearly two-and-half hours. 
 
The 251 attack attempts by the Gorloks bettered the old school mark of 248 set in a five-set match against WashU on Oct. 10, 2006. 
 
Along with Farrah's 57 digs, four other Gorloks recorded double-digit digs, including having three players tally 20 or more digs in the match for the first time in school history. Junior setter Jenna Rodriguez (Smithton, Ill./Freeburg) recorded a career-high 28 digs and added 15 assists for her 12th double-double of the season, while sophomore outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) finished with 24 digs and had 12 kills for her 10th double-double of the year. 
 
The other Gorloks to record double-digit digs were senior outside hitter Samantha Budrovich (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) had 16 digs and senior setter Kelsey Hamann (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) had 15 digs in the win. Budrovich also added 15 kills for her sixth double-double of the year and Hamann had 20 assists for her team leading 14th double-double this year.
 
Neither team hit very efficient in Saturday's match as Webster finished with an .092 attack percentage and Westminster hit .077. 
 
In the opening set, Westminster jumped out to a 7-2 lead, before the Gorloks answered with a 10-4 run to take a 12-11 lead. After a kill by Natalie Needy tied the set at 12, Webster used a 6-3 run capped by a kill from Budrovich to push in front 18-15. The lead eventually moved to 22-19, before the Blue Jays scored four straight points to take a 23-22 lead. From that point, the teams would trade points until Westminster's Sarah Rivers recorded two consecutive kills to seal the Blue Jays 27-25 set win. In the set, Westminster hit .161 and had 14 kills, while Webster hit .113 and recorded 16 kills.
 
Webster trailed early in the second set, but used a 6-3 run to turn a 6-4 deficit into a 10-9 lead. After a kill from Teresa Becker and back-to-back Webster attack errors gave Westminster a 12-10 lead, the Gorloks used 3-1 run to tie the set at 13. The teams would then trade points until Webster used a 4-2 run to turn an 18-17 lead into a 22-19 advantage. A ball-handling error by Budrovich brought Westminster within two at 22-20, before WU scored two of the final three points, including sealing with 25-20 win with a kill by Kruse. In the set, WU hit .083 and Westminster hit .069.
 
The third set belonged to Webster as the Gorloks hit .128 and had 11 kills and held the Blue Jays to an .037 attack percentage as they had 11 kills, but nine errors on 54 attack attempts. In the set, Webster jumped out to a 6-1 lead and led 8-5 when the Blue Jays used a 4-2 run to pull within 10-9. The Gorloks, though, responded with a 9-5 run to push out to a 19-14 lead. After a kill by Becker brought WC within 19-15, WU closed out the set by scoring six of the final nine points to earn its 25-18 win and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the match, Westminster opened the fourth set by scoring 11 of the first 19 points to take an 11-8 lead. The lead would eventually grow to 14-10 before WU used an 8-4 run to tie the set at 18. From that point, the teams would trade points and take turns holding the lead until the Blue Jays scored the final two points of the set after tying the set at 26 on a kill by Allie Kennebeck to seal its 28-26 win and force a fifth and deciding set. In the set, WU hit .128 and WC hit .037 and the two teams combined for 80 digs as the Blue Jays tallied 42 and Webster had 38, including 16 from Farrah. 
 
Westminster carried that momentum from the fourth set into the fifth set as they scored the first three points and led 4-1 when the Gorloks began its comeback. Trailing 4-1, Budrovich recorded a kill to push WU within two at 4-2 and after Rivers had a kill to make it 5-2, the Gorloks would score four straight points to take a 6-5 lead. After an attack error by junior right side hitter Sarah Jacobs (Carbondale, Ill./Murphysboro) allowed WC to tie the set at 6, Webster used a 5-1 run to take an 11-7 lead. The run was keyed by two kills from Kruse. After the Blue Jays scored two of the next three points to pull within 12-9, WU would seal the win by scoring three of the final four points, including capping the 15-10 set win with a kill from senior right side hitter Torie Grassi (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain), who fnished the match with 11 kills. In the fifth set, WU hit .192 and held WC to an .087 attack percentage. 
 
The Blue Jays offense was paced by 14 kills apice from Kennebeck and Needy, while Rivers added 13 kills and Becker had 11 kills and 10 digs. 
 
Westminster's defense had six players record double-digit digs, including Bridget Ringwald finishing with 33 digs and Jill Reando adding 29 digs and 49 assists in the loss. Kennebeck and Micha Frasher also each tallied 20 or more digs as Kenneback had 23 and Frasher had 20.