Fontbonne comes from behind to win five-set match over Spalding

St. Louis, Mo. - After winning the first set against Spalding University 25-23, the Griffins were down 1-3 before climbing back and overtaking the Golden Eagles in the fourth and fifth sets to win their eighth conference game of the year. In the fifth set, Fontbonne was up 13-11 before Spalding scored four straight to tie the game. With a 15-14 advantage, Griffin junior Holly Richter secured the winning point on a service ace. In the fifth set Fontbonne had seven big kills a block and an ace take them to victory. Fontbonne is 10-13 overall and 8-3 in SLIAC play.

Both teams recorded 52 kills in the match with Fontbonne junior Kersten McDonough leading the way totaling 22 kills along with 15 digs and two block assists. McDonough had a big night, hitting .291 to lead both teams. Kristina Eason and Megan McKenzie each tallied 11 kills on the night while setters Lynsey Wehrenberg and Mandy DeWitt were busy recording 25 and 21 assists respectively. Libero Maddie Stadler recorded the game's high 27 digs as Wehrenberg added 15 herself. DeWitt had two consecutive digs in the first set that kept the Griffins alive and awarded them their 22nd point, ultimately forcing a Spalding timeout. Richter ended the game with four service aces.

Spalding held a 15-8 service ace advantage but committed 11 service errors compared to Fontbonne's six. Both teams recorded four ball-handling errors but Fontbonne only committed one block error to Spalding's four.

The Griffins will travel down Big Bend to end the week with three contests at Webster University. Fontbonne takes on the host Gorloks on Thursday at 7 p.m. followed by neutral-site games Saturday against Principia at 11 a.m. and Westminster at 1 p.m.

*Note: Fontbonne is 4-2 on the year in five-set matches. Last year the Griffins only had three games go all five sets.