SPORTS

Saint Martin’s volleyball ends season with defeat in Nampa, Idaho

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The Saint Martin’s volleyball team closed out their season with a 26-24, 25-20 and 25-16 loss to Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, on Nov. 23. 

Despite the defeat, the attacking trio of Emily Garten, Emmy Hansen and Jennifer Soha proved reliable for the Saints when needed, as they led the offensive end for the Saints, while freshman Aundrea Oxentine saved the best for last with a season high 27 assists.  

The Saints found themselves in a nine-point hole in the match opener at 18-9, but efforts from Hansen and Garten propelled the Saints to a 23-23 stalemate, followed by another tie at 24 apiece. The Saints could have got the momentum to clinch the set, but back-to-back kills from Abby Black and Miya Koch of the Nighthawks sealed the first set for the home team. 

Like the opening salvo, the Saints would climb again from a huge deficit in the second set, but all efforts came up short as they tried to trim an 8-point deficit to 12-10, before a 5-0 run by the Nighthawks made it 17-10. The Nighthawks went on to take the set 25-20.

The Saints still tried to pull one set back through efforts from Soha and Kingsley Mason, but the Nighthawks outplayed them to sweep the match.

The Saints wrapped up the 2024 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) volleyball season in ninth place with a record of 4-14. The standing was a steep fall from the program’s most successful season in 2023, in which the team posted a record of 10-8.  

Their four wins this season included beating lowest-ranked Montana State Billings twice, an opening day win over the Nighthawks and a road game win in Anchorage against Alaska Fairbanks in September. 

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