WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University Volleyball played two of its best matches of the season here Friday evening as the Gorloks posted back-to-back three set victories over both Spalding University (25-17, 25-21, 25-14) and MacMurray (25-20, 25-10, 25-14) in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium.

With the two wins, Webster improves its record to 10-9 overall and 7-3 in the SLIAC, while Spalding falls to 6-15 overall and 5-5 in the league and MacMurray is now 9-12 overall and 4-4 in the league. The two wins were the first of the season at home for the Gorloks and snapped its four match home losing skid. 

The win over MacMurray helped the Gorloks avenge a five-set loss earlier this season against MacMurray at the MacMurray Quadrangle. 

In Friday's action, the Gorloks offense totaled 87 kills, recorded nine aces, including five aces against Spalding and hit .279 combined in the two matches and its defense had a total of 17 blocks, including nine blocks in the win over Spalding and a total of 124 digs, with 79 of those digs coming in the win over Spalding. 

Freshman outside hitter Lauren Borik (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) paced Webster's offense with a total of 24 kills and hit .365 in the two matches as she had 12 kills and hit .258 against Spalding and added 12 kills and hit a season high .524 against MacMurray. The .524 hitting percentage is a season high for a Gorlok player. 

In addition to Borik, senior right side hitter Sarah Jacobs (Carbondale, Ill./Murphysboro) added 15 kills, six blocks and hit .300, while junior outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) had 13 kills and 20 digs and junior middle hitter Jordan Price (Fulton, Ill./Carl Sandburg College) had nine kills, nine blocks in the two matches. Sophomore middle hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) had eight kills, seven blocks and hit .381 in the two wins. 

Against MacMurray, the Gorloks offense was firing on all cyclinders as Webster had 46 kills and hit a season high .400 as they committed just six attack errors in 100 attack attempts. The Gorloks had 12 or more kills in all three sets and hit over .350 in all three sets, including hitting .458 in the second set. The .400 attack percentage is tied for the 11th best in a match in school history. 

Five players hit over .350 against the Highlanders, including senior setter Jenna Rodriguez (Smithton, Ill./Freeburg) hit a career-best .800 with four kill, 19 assists and nine digs, while junior setter Emma Larson (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue West) hit .667 and had two aces and 14 assists and Borik hit a career high .524 and added 12 kills and seven digs. Kruse hit .438 with eight kills and eight digs and Burke hit a career high .429 and had three kills and four block assists.

The opening set was a back-and-forth affair was it featured 12 ties and eight lead changes and neither team had a lead of more than two points until the Gorloks scored six of the final seven points after the set was tied at 19-all. The Gorloks would end the set with four straight kills, including Borik, who has now had double-digit kills nine consecutive matches, sealing the 25-20 win with her fourth kill of the set. In the set, WU had 19 kills and hit .364, while MacMurray had 13 kills and hit .256. 

After winning the first set 25-20, the Gorloks dominated the second set as they scored the first two points and jumped out to a 14-6 lead. After the Highlanders scored two straight points to stop WU's run, the Gorloks responded with an 11-2 run to post a 25-10 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. WU would seal the set win with back-to-back kills from Rodriguez and Borik. In the set, WU hit .458 and had 12 kills, while MacMurray hit -.107 and had five kills and eight attack errors. 

The third set also belonged to the Gorloks as they scored the first eight points and led 11-4 when MacMurray used a 4-1 run to pull within 12-8. WU, though, would answer with an 8-2 run to take a 19-10 lead that was capped by an assisted block from Price and Jacobs. After a kill from Erin Sweet brought Mac within 19-11, the Gorloks would close out the set by scoring six of the final nine points, including sealing the 25-14 win with an ace by Larson. In the set, WU had 15 kills and hit .406, while MacMurray had 10 kills and hit .027. 

Kamryn Flesner finished with 11 kills, while Janelle Benson and Carissa Smith each had eight digs to pace MacMurray. 

In the win over Spalding, Webster's offense hit .197 and had 41 kills and four aces, while on defense, the Gorloks had nine blocks and 79 digs. 

Borik had 12 kills and hit .258, while Jacobs added eight kills, two blocks and hit .273 and Burke finished with five kills, three block assists and hit .357. In addition to Burke, Kruse and freshman middle hitter Julia Frey (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) also had five kills. Frey also hit a season high .400 in the win. 

Rodriguez had a double-double of 11 assists and 17 digs and has now recorded a team best 11 double-doubles on the year, while Larson had 14 assists and just missed a double-double as she had nine digs. 

On defense, Farrah had 22 digs and has now recorded double-digit digs in 54 consecutive matches, while Price had five block assists and Burke and Borik each had three block assists against Spalding.

Against the Golden Eagles, Webster jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first set, before Spalding used a 7-1 run to take an 11-10 lead. The Gorloks, though, would respond with a 10-1 run to take a 20-12 lead. The run was keyed by four blocks from the Gorloks. Spalding would score three of the next four points to pull within 21-15, before WU closed the set by scoring four of the final six points to seal its 25-17 win. In the set, WU hit .111 and had 10 kills, while SU had eight kills and committed 13 attack errors en route to hitting -.109. 

In the second set, Webster jumped out to a 7-3 lead and led 13-6 when SU used a 4-2 run to pull within 15-10. The Gorloks, though, responded with a 5-2 run to push its lead to 20-12. The Golden Eagles wouldn't go away as they used an 8-3 run to pull within 23-20, but that would be as close as they would get as WU scored two of the final three points in the set to seal its 25-21 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. WU hit .189 with 14 kills in the set, while SU had 13 kills and hit .132. 

The third set was close early on as neither led by more than two points until the Gorloks used a 4-1 run capped by back-to-back kills from Borik to take a 14-10 lead. After an error by Borik dropped WU's lead to 14-11, the Gorloks used a 9-1 run capped by an ace from sophomore defensive specialist Kyra Gensel (Clarkton, NC/Harrells Christian) to push its lead to 23-12. After Savannah Kruse recorded two kills to bring Spalding within 24-14, WU would seal the 25-14 set win with a kill from Kruse. In the set, WU hit .286 with 17 kills, including six kills from Borik, while SU had eight kills and hit .064. 

Savannah Kruse paced Spalding with 13 kills, while Mya Summers added 20 digs and 22 assists and Maddie Rosendaul had 16 digs in the loss for the Golden Eagles. 

The Gorloks will look to win its fourth straight match as they host Principia College for a 7 p.m. match on Tuesday, Oct. 15 at Grant Gymnasium.