WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University opened the home portion of its 2019 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule here Wednesday evening at Grant Gymnasium by suffering a hard-fought four-set loss to Greenville (25-15, 18-25, 22-25, 24-26) in a match-up between the two teams that shared the regular season SLIAC title last season.

With the setback, Webster falls to 6-6 overall and 3-1 in the SLIAC, while Greenville improves to 6-6 overall and 1-0 in the league. 

In this year's preseason SLIAC Coaches' Poll, both Webster and Greenville were tabbed as co-favorites after they both shared the regular season title in 2018. 

Wednesday's match was a close contest throughout as the Gorloks finished with 52 kills and hit .232, while Greenville had 60 kills and hit .188. In addition, Greenville had seven aces and both teams combined for seven blocks each and 175 total digs as WU had 87 digs and GU had 88 digs.

Three Gorloks finished the match with double-digit kills led by junior middle hitter Jordan Price (Fulton, Ill./Carl Sandburg College), who tied a season high with 13 kills and hit a season best .393. Along with Price, freshman outside hitter Lauren Borik (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) added 12 kills and hit .259, while junior outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) had 11 kills and 19 digs for her third double-double of the season. 

On defense, junior libero Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) paced the Gorloks with 20 digs, while Kruse had 19 digs and senior setter Jenna Rodriguez (Smithton, Ill./Freeburg) had 16 digs and 23 assists for her team-leading fifth double-double. Junior setter Emma Larson (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue West) also had a double-double with 15 assists and 11 digs. Larson's double-double was her fourth of the season.

Price was also strong on the block as she had five in the match, including two solo blocks, while Borik, senior outside hitter Sarah Jacobs (Carbondale, Ill./Murphysboro) and sophomore Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) each had two assisted blocks.

The first set belonged to the Gorloks as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led 16-6 when the Panthers, who split regular season meetings last season with the Gorloks, scored three of the next five points to pull within 18-9. That would be as close as the set would get as the Gorloks closed out the set scoring seven of the final 13 points to seal its 25-15 win. In the set, WU hit .256 and had 14 kills, while GU hit .048 and had 10 kills. 

In the second set, which featured eight ties and two lead changes, neither team was able to get much of an advantage until midway through the set as the Panthers used a 13-3 run to turn a 9-all tie into a 22-12 lead. The Gorloks answered with a 6-3 run to pull within 24-18. The run was capped by a kill from Borik. Emily Stahl, though, would seal GU's 25-18 set with a kill to tie the match a 1-all. In the set, WU hit .106 and had 10 kills, while GU hit .200 and had 17 kills. 

After WU scored the first two points of the set, the Panthers used a 14-7 run to take a 14-9 lead. GU would then score six of the next seven points to take a 20-14 lead. The Gorloks responded with a 7-3 run to drop GU's lead to 23-21. The run was capped by an assisted block by Jacobs and Price and an ace from Kruse. GU, though, would score two of the final three points to earn a 25-22 set win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. GU hit .237 and had 15 kills in the set, while WU hit .2-5 and recorded 10 kills. 

Perhaps the set of the night was the fourth as the two teams combined for 15 ties and eight lead changes. The Panthers jumped in front 9-7, before WU scored three of the next six points to tie the set at 10. After kills from Stahl and Abby Freeman gave GU a 12-10 lead, the Gorloks responded with a 6-3 run to take a 16-15 lead. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from Borik. GU answered by scoring four of the next five points to take a 19-17 lead. WU, though, used three straight kills from Kruse to take a 20-19 lead, The two teams would then trade points, before GU scored two of the next three points to tie the set at 22. The teams would then trade points, until GU scored the final two points of the set to earn a 26-14 win. In the set, WU hit .385 and had 18 kills, including seven by Borik, while GU hit .261 with 18 kills, including eight from Freeman.

Freeman paced the Panthers offense with 21 kills and hit .310, while Anna Finch added 10 kills, four blocks and hit .450 in the win. 

Sacorra Patton led the way defensively for Greenville with 24 digs, while Chasity Hill had 20 digs. 

The Gorloks will return to road this coming Saturday, Sept. 28 as they travel to Jacksonville, Ill., to play two SLIAC matches at the MacMurray Quadrangle against MacMurray and Westminster at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. respectively.