GREENVILLE, Ill. - Webster University opened St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play here Saturday at the Greenville Quadrangle by facing both Greenville University and Westminster (Mo.) College at both H.J. Long Gymnasium and the Recreation Center on Greenville University's campus.

The Gorloks, who fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the SLIAC, opened Saturday's Greenville Quad with a three set loss to Greenville (15-25, 5-25, 23-25) and then fell in four sets to SLIAC preseason favorite Westminster (22-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21). 

For the day, Webster's offense struggled on Saturday as they hit .011 against Greenville and hit .089 against Westminster. The Gorloks had 66 kills on the day, including senior right side Samantha Budrovich (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) recording 15 kills and 16 digs, including a double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs against Westminster, while freshman outside hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) had 14 kills, including a career-high 10 kills against Westminster.

On defense, Webster had 127 digs and eight blocks for day, including sophomore libero Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Frances Howell) picking up 55 digs, including 39 against Westminster, while junior middle hitter Taylor Kissel (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) had four blocks in her first two matches of the season.

Against Westminster, the teams combined 197 digs as Webster had 93 and Westminster (4-1, 3-0 SLIAC) had 104. In addition, the teams combined for 105 kills, nine aces and nine blocks in the match that had 13 ties and five lead changes. 

In the first set, the Blue Jays jumped out to a 10-5 lead and led 11-6 when the Gorloks used a 4-1 run capped by back-to-back kills from Budrovich to pull within 12-10. WC, though, answered with a 7-3 run to push its lead to 20-13. Following a Gorloks timeout, WU responded with an 8-3 run to pull within 23-21. The run was keyed by seven errors from the Bluejays. After trading kills, the Bluejays would seal the 25-22 win with a kill by Natalie Needy. In the set, WC hit .205, while Webster hit .111.

Webster, though, got off to a quick start in the second set as they led 7-2 and held a 13-8 lead when the Bluejays used a 4-0 run to pull within 13-12. WU would then extend its lead to 15-13, before WC used a 5-1 run to take an 18-16 lead. The set would then be tied at both 18 and 20, before WC used a 3-0 tun to take a 23-20 lead. Back-to-back points by Webster dropped the Bluejays lead to 23-22, but kills from Needy and Teresa Becker would seal WC's 25-22 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the set, Webster hit .073 and Westminster hit .145. 

In the third set, WC jumped in front 4-1, but the Gorloks responded with a 7-1 run to take an 8-5 lead. The lead would eventually grow to 15-10, before WC answered with a 10-5 run to tie the set at 20. After a kill by freshman right side hitter Samantha Hoff (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) gave WU a 21-20 edge, the Bluejays would score three straight points to take a 23-21 lead. The Gorloks, though, would respond as they scored the final four points of the set, including winning the set on an attack error by Sarah Rivers to seal WU's 25-23 win. In the set, Webster outhit Westminster, .086 to .073.

The fourth set was another back-and-forth affair as Westminster scored the first two points and led 6-4 until WU used a 3-2 run to pull within 8-7. The Bluejays, though, answered with a 9-2 run to push out to a 17-9 lead. Back-to-back kills buy Burke helped start a 7-2 run for the Gorloks that dropped the Bluejays lead to 19-16. WU's run was capped by an ace from junior setter Jenna Rodriguez (Smithton, Ill./Freeburg). After a kill by Needy gave WC a 20-16 lead, WU would score two straight points to pull within 20-18. That would be as close as the Gorloks would get as Westminster closed the set with a 5-3 run to seal its 25-21 set win and 3-1 match victory. In the set, WC hit .180 and the Gorloks hit .085. 

In addition to Budrovich's second career double-double of 10 kills and 13 digs, Burke and senior outside hitter Torie Grassi (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) each had 10 kills in the loss. Sophomore outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) added seven kills and nine digs before going down with an injury late in the third set. 

Senior setter Kelsey Hamann (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) had 17 assists and 11 digs for her third double-double of the season, while Rodriguez added a season high 14 assists and had 10 digs for her first double-double of the year. Farrah and Rodriguez each had two aces in the match.

Needy led Westminster with 16 kills and hit .289, while Becker added 15 kills and 26 digs and Rivers finished with 14 kills. Bridget Ringwald had 26 digs and Jill Reando had a team-high 31 assists. 

Meanwhile, in Saturday's opener against Greenville, who was tabbed to finish second in the Preseason SLIAC Coaches' Poll, the Panthers outhit the Gorloks, .289 to .011 to pick up the straight set win. 

In the first set, Greenville jumped in front 7-4, before WU used a 3-2 run to pull within 9-7. The Panthers, though, would respond with a 9-3 run to push its lead to 18-10. WU answered with three straight points to pull within 18-13, before GU closed the set by scoring seven of the final nine points to earn a 25-15 win. GU hit .419 in the set and held WU to an .071 hitting percentage.

The second set is one the Gorloks would like to forget as the Gorloks scored the set's first point on an error by the Panthers, but the home team would respond by scoring 11 straight points to push out to an 11-1 lead. Burke would stop GU's run with a kill, but the Panthers would cruise from that point as they closed the set on a 14-4 run to post a 25-5 win. Webster hit -.280 in the set, while GU hit .304. 

After dropping the first two sets, Webster came out in the third set and jumped out to a 7-5 lead and led 10-8, when the Panthers used a 6-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. Three straight points by the Gorloks, including an ace by Burke dropped WU's deficit to 14-13. After GU used a 4-2 run to push its lead to 18-15, the Gorloks responded by scoring three straight points to tie the set at 18 following a kills by Kruse. With the score tied, Greenville would score three straight points to push in front 21-18, before WU used an error by Greenville and a kill from Kissel to pull within a point at 21-20. Following Kissel's kill, GU scored two straight points to push in front, 23-20, but the Gorloks wouldn't go away as they tallied three straight points to tie the set at 23. The Panthers would seal the win with back-to-back kills from Anna Finch and Abby Freeman to seal its 25-23 set win and its match sweep. In the set, Webster hit .167, while Greenville hit .186.

In the match, Kruse and Budrovich led the Gorloks with five kills, while Burke had four kills in the loss. Farrah had 16 digs for the Gorloks. 

Freeman led Greenville with 18 kills, including recording 10 of those kills in the opening set. In addition to Freeman, Brooklyn Pace added seven kills and 14 digs. 

Greenville had seven aces in the match, including four from Jordan Lempa. Burke and Kruse had Webster's two aces. 

The Gorloks will look to snap its three-match losing skid as they return home to Grant Gymnasium this coming Tuesday, Sept. 11 as they host Principia College in a 7 p.m. SLIAC match.