The Aquinas women's volleyball team opened play at the GoSarpy.com Labor Day Volleyball Classic in Bellevue, Neb. on Friday (Aug. 30), with the #16 Saints falling to a tough Evangel (Mo.) team by a 3-0 score. It was AQ's second match of the year – while Evangel was playing its eighth contest – and the Crusaders prevailed by scores of 25-19, 25-14, and 25-23.

Aquinas falls for the first time in 2019, dropping to 1-1 on the season. Evangel improves to 7-1 on the year. The Saints are back in action on Friday afternoon against #20 Jamestown at 4:00 p.m. ET.

Evangel put together a strong offensive performance, hitting .330 with 45 kills. AQ managed 34 kills and connected at a .174 attack clip. The Crusaders also led the two teams in digs (62-49), assists (43-32), and aces (6-3). Aquinas owned a 4-1 advantage in total blocks.

Kylie Christensen paced the Saints offense with a dozen kills and just one error in 23 attempts. She posted a .478 hitting percentage, four block assists, and a pair of digs. Payton Klein added eight kills, while Kali Crawford recorded 24 assists, six digs, and five kills.

Karly Morris notched 13 digs and Allie Martin picked up 10 digs on Friday. Ally Blackford, Meredith Kraus, and Maddie Ingraham totaled three kills apiece. Kraus also supplied all three of AQ's aces, three block assists, and two digs.

After its clash against Jamestown on Friday, AQ will take on #11 Dordt and College of Saint Mary on Saturday (Aug. 31) to conclude the four-match weekend.