HUNTINGTON, Ind. – The University of Saint Francis (Ind.) women's volleyball team started their Crossroads League tenure on the back foot, dropping in three sets to the Huntington University Foresters. Huntington started their season off at the OnSet Invitational hosted by USF back in August, where they defeated the now ranked No. 25 Indiana Tech Warriors.

Since the OnSet Tournament, the Lady Cougars have struggled due to injuries and a small 18-player roster. Sets one and three were a struggle for the lady Cougars as the Foresters only held them to less than 15 points per set. The Lady Cougars have shined ultimately in their 11 games in their second set. USF lost set 1 to the Foresters 25-10, set 2 25-21, and set 3 25-14. 

In set 1, the Lady Cougars fired off 5 kills opposed to Huntington's 11. Set 2, the Cougars rallied a bit more to give Huntington a more competitive set resulting in 9 kills to HU's 10. Set 3, the Lady Cougars ran out of gas and momentum as they only were able to tally up 4 kills opposed to HU's 15.  

As a team, the Lady Cougs recorded 18 kills in 3 sets, 18 assists, 5 service aces, 22 digs, 1 solo block, and 4 assisted blocks at the net. Huntington outscored the Lady Cougs point wise 52-26.

Paige Fortkamp & Kate McMullen combined for 9 kills & McMullen also tallied 2 blocks for the Cougs. Jo Delsing set for the Cougars and mustered up 7 assists and Caroline Jones also participated in 4 assists as well. Hannah Sweeney, Fortkamp, Alexis Gregory, Addison Shafer, & Eliza Madden all combined for 16 digs in the back court. 

The Lady Cougars are now 4-7 overall and 0-2 in the Crossroads League Conference. USF is set to compete again a week from now on Wednesday, September 13th for their CL Home Opener in Hutzell Athletic Center. The Lady Cougars will play host to the Goshen College Maple Leafs for a 7pm first serve. Goshen College is 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the CL. Goshen's next match-up will be against No. 25 Indiana Tech at the Liz Lykowski Tournament this weekend hosted at Indiana Tech Friday at 2pm.

Cougar fans stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.

-USF Athletics-