Led by the members of the class of 2012 on one of its last days of competition in the Burkman Gymnasium, the St. Lawrence University volleyball team posted a phenomenal showing in the second weekend of Liberty League action. After defeating both Union and Bard on Friday night, the Saints carried that momentum onto their home court, earning two more exciting victories over Skidmore and Vassar. The Scarlet and Brown opened the day with a tight 3-1 victory over Skidmore before charging back from a two-set deficit to defeat Vassar, 3-2 in the Burkman Gymnasium on "senior night".

The scores of the Skidmore match were 25-15, 19-25, 25-18 and 32-30, while the scores of the Vassar match were 23-25, 22-25, 25-10, 25-22 and 16-14. The Saints, now 14-8 (6-2), move into second place in the Liberty League standings after their undefeated weekend. ­

"I am so very, very proud of how hard our team competed this weekend," said St. Lawrence Head Coach Shelly Roiger. "There is such great parity in the Liberty League and practically every match is a battle. Our team was able to keep their composure through opponent's streaks and in the end, we were able to come from behind in many situations. This team has grown so much over the course of the season in terms of their comfort level with each other, their trust, their communication, making technical adjustments during the match, and most importantly the heart that they show whether they are playing or cheering on their teammates. "

Leading the Saints to victory over the Thoroughbreds were seniors Liz Grogan, Nyasha Miller, Marta Johann, Ali Limoncelli and Katherine Pierce. Grogan recorded a match-high 15 kills, while Miller added 14 kills, 23 digs and three service aces. Johann and Limoncelli combined for 21 kills and made some great defensive plays throughout the night in the front line. Pierce dug out 22 balls while sophomore Anna Kassab recorded 44 assists.

Miller and Johann led the way against Vassar, putting up 17 and 16 kills, respectively. Kassab and first-year student Jenna Street shared the setting duties, recording a combined 52 assists. Pierce led the Saints defensively with 30 digs, while Street, Miller and Kassab also posted double-figures in digs. The Saints front line threw up 14 assisted blocks, led by Limoncelli's five.

The St. Lawrence senior class accounted for 100 kills and 104 digs on the day.

Against Skidmore, the teams split the opening sets before the Saints ended the third on a 12-3 run to take the 2-1 set advantage. St. Lawrence and Skidmore exchanged points in the early stages of the fourth set until the Thoroughbreds worked to a 14-8 lead. The visitors extended their lead to 18-12 before the Saints battled back to with one point at 18-17 behind the offensive play of Limoncelli and Grogan.

Big defensive plays by sophomore Katie Prue and Pierce kept the Saints within striking distance. At 24-22, Pierce got a hold of a Skidmore attack attempt that crossed back over net, behind the Thoroughbreds defense and landed for a point to bring the score to 24-23.

A controversial officiating call that was awarded to the Saints tied the score up at 24-24. St. Lawrence and Skidmore battled point-for-point down the stretch, until the home team closed the set with a 5-2 run, accented by a kill by Johann to award the Saints the 3-1 victory.

Though fighting hard against Vassar in the second match of the day, the Saints found themselves down 2-0, looking to stay alive in the third set. Taking an early 5-4 advantage, the Saints offense exploded with a 20-6 run as it took the third set, 25-10, and continued to tie the match up at 2-2 by winning the fourth set, 25-22.

The fifth set thriller saw both teams working point-for-point until the Saints jumped to a 14-10 lead behind the play of Johann and first-year student Katy Litka. Though the Brewers would bring the score to 14-14, St. Lawrence was able to celebrate the win on its home court after consecutive points by Kassab and Limoncelli.

"Today was Senior Day for us," added Roiger, "and that is a class that will go down as the greatest class in Saints Volleyball history. I couldn't ask for a greater day for them. We have a lot of season ahead of us yet and we are far from finished in our progress but it was a great weekend for our program and my expectation is that it will only continue to go up from here."

The Saints will play their final home game of the season on Tuesday, October 4th against Potsdam State. Not only will they be battling the Bears, they will also be raising funds and awareness about breast cancer in conjunction with the "Power of Pink" week. The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.