The SUNY Potsdam volleyball team suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of rival St. Lawrence. The loss, just the second of the season, ends a four match winning streak for the Bears.

The two teams battled back and forth for much of the first set, but ultimately the Bears couldn’t overcome their mistakes. Potsdam did fight back despite trailing 20-16 and rallied for three straight points which caused St. Lawrence head coach, Shelly Roiger, to call a timeout. However, that was the closest the Bears would get as the Saints took the set 25-23. The second set produced the same outcome, a 25-23 win for St. Lawrence with Potsdam hanging close but losing because of costly errors. The energy expended trying to claw from behind was evident in the third set as Potsdam couldn’t stay with St. Lawrence and the Saints came out with the victory by the score of 25-16. For the match, Potsdam was led by sophomore setter Jenna Blujus (Baldwinsville, N.Y. / C.W. Baker) who had nine digs and 23 assists and senior outside hitter Samantha Strader (Watertown, N.Y. / South Jefferson) led the offense with 11 kills.

“We’ve got to execute at a higher level,” head coach Steve Pike said following the contest. “We came out flat and will need to make some adjustments going into the weekend.”

Potsdam will head to the RIT Invitational Sept. 16 and 17. The Bears will face Trine (3 p.m.) and the University of Rochester (5 p.m.) on Friday and then take on Medaille (12 p.m.) and Brockport (2 p.m.) on the final day of the tournament. These will be the last matches before SUNYAC pool play begins on Sept. 23.