WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The St. Andrews University women’s volleyball team held on to outlast NAIA non-conference foe Keiser University (Fla.) in five sets on Saturday. The Lady Knights also pushed past AAC rival Truett McConnell Univ. (Ga.) in four sets to improve to 2-2 on the young season.
St. Andrews faced two very strong NAIA teams on day one of the tournament — falling in three sets to Life University (Ga.) and in four sets to Kansas Wesleyan.
Life 3, SAU 0
St. Andrews first match of the weekend did not go well as they fell in three sets to NAIA foe Life University 25-17, 25-23, and 25-20.
The Knights were led by senior outside hitter Tessa Smith’s 12 kills. Freshman Karina Lozada led with 12 digs. Middle blockers Kiah Cheatham and Lindsey Wagner combined for seven kills, six digs, and four blocks.
Smith currently leads the team with 51 kills and is second with 57 digs behind senior Libero Austin Payne who leads the team with 69 digs and five aces.
KWU 3, SAU 1
In the Lady Knights’ second match of the tournament, they faced off with NAIA foe Kansas Wesleyan, a team that proved to be too much for St. Andrews as they totaled 60 kills winning the match 25-15, 25-21, 25-27, and 25-18.
Kiah Cheatham led St. Andrews with 13 kills and six digs while Tessa Smith added 12 kills and 15 digs for a double-double. Lindsey Wagner had double-digit kills with 10 while Austin Payne contributed 21 digs as libero.
SAU 3, Truett 1
In the Lady Knights third game of the weekend, they faced conference rival Truett McConnell (0-4) and came away with a solid four-set win.
St. Andrews took the first set 25-18 and squeaked out the second 25-22 before blowing an eight-point lead in the third to fall 28-26. The Lady Knights put away the Lady Bears in the fourth set, 25-17.
The Lady Knights were by Tessa Smith’s 15 kills, seven digs, four assists and once ace. Lindsey Wagner again recorded double-digit kills with 11 while hitting .381 with two blocks. Sophomore setter Shalia Powell Powell had 21 assists and 19 digs with an ace and a kill.
It was the first of three meetings this season between the schools. The Lady Knights will play at Truett McConnell (Ga.) again on Sept. 19 and at home Oct. 12.
SAU 3, Keiser 2
St. Andrews stormed back to steal the first set from Keiser 28-26. The Seahawks showed their strength by downing the Lady Knights 25-13 the second set before the Lady Knights came back to take a tight third set 25-22.
After leading late in the fourth set 20-16, Keiser rallied back to steal that game 26-24 and send it to a decisive fifth set. The Lady Knights took command in the final set going on a 7-2 run to win 15-9.
Kiah Cheatham led the Lady Knights with 17 kills. Cheatham was also named to the All-Tournament team. The senior now has 40 kills on the season with just 11 errors for .274 hitting average.
Fellow senior right side hitter Lindsey Wagner played well recording 11 kills with a block. Sophomore setter Shalia Powell recorded her second double-double of the season leading the team with 30 assists and 16 digs. Senior libero Austin Payne led the Knights with an impressive 23 digs.
St. Andrews will now begin their week-long home stand by hosting AAC rival Reinhardt University (4-1) out of Georgia on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
