ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's volleyball team opened Empire 8 Conference play as they hosted the Wolves of Keuka College, forcing a fifth set but falling on Friday evening in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 
The Saxons (5-6, 0-1 Empire 8) were defeated with set scores of 25-18, 22-25, 27-25, 21-25 and 15-13. Sarah Raeman (Canandaigua, NY/Canandaigua) led four Saxons in double-digit scoring as she neared a collegiate career-high in kills with 16 and added two block assists for 17.0 points.
 
Jamie Chun (Hilo, HI/Hilo) led the AU backline with 23 digs while Darian Ortiz (Santa Fe, NM/St. Michael's) and Anjoeline Armstrong (Simi Valley, CA/Bishop Alemany) followed with 21 and 18 digs, respectively. Armstrong's efforts resulted in a collegiate career-high, breaking her previous mark of 14 digs.
 
Other top defensive efforts where showcased at the front line with six Saxons registering block assists. Rylee Russin (Broomfield, CO/Broomfield) and Samara-Jade Mok (Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany/Ramstein) each had four block assists on the evening with Amanda Burns (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush) having three.
 
Other Saxons in the double-digit scoring club where Chun with 12.0 points off of nine kills, two aces and two block assists, Fiona McNeil (Fayetteville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) with seven kills, three service aces and one block assist for 10.5 points and Russin with eight kills and her four blocks to 10.0 points. Burns had a match-high 41 set assists.
 
The second set win for AU started in strong favor for the purple and gold as two big runs gave the Saxons a 14-8 advantage before Keuka climbed back to hold a 22-19 lead near the end of the set. AU closed the set with six, unanswered points with highlighted plays such as a double block by Mok and Russin and the set-clinching kill off a huge swing by Mok with the assist coming from Grace DeWitte (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder).
 
The fourth set victory for the Saxons however, did not start off in favor of the hosts as the Wolves got an early 9-0 lead out of the gates. AU's response…a 9-1 run highlighted by seven kills (six Burns' assists) from AU players such as McNeil, Jalynn Thomas (Las Vegas, NV/Bishop Gorman), Raeman and Chun. Thomas had two kills in the series while Raeman had three, including the one solo kill.
 
After some more back-and-forth exchanges of serves and points, the Saxons compiled a 7-1 run to take a 22-16 advantage and then scored the remaining three points necessary to force the fifth set, despite the clinging offensive threat by Keuka.
 
"Tonight was a tough pill to swallow after the recent success we have been having. I have to hand it to Keuka on having brought a ton of offense and fire," Head Coach Dakota Pruiss said. "I think Jalynn [Thomas] and Anjoeline [Armstrong] both had stellar performances tonight. We just needed to get some other connections going to come out on the other side of this one."
 
The Saxons will next take to the road for a tri-match at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford on Saturday, September 25 with their first match scheduled at 2:30pm against Mount Aloysius College.