Lima, Ohio — Letting the opening set slip away proved to be costly, as the Aquinas women's volleyball team suffered a 3-0 road sweep Friday evening (Sept. 23) against the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) by scores of 25-23, 25-22, 25-17.

The Racers (8-9, 1-4 WHAC) picked up their first conference win of the season while Saints (5-13, 2-3 WHAC) lost their first true road match of the season.

UNOH effectively stole the opening frame by erasing a 23-21 deficit with four straight points in crunch time. The Saints were beaten by an attack error, a kill from Abigail Martin, an ace from Casey Kingsland and a bad set. Aquinas even finished the first set with a better hitting percentage (.125 to .094). Martin and Abbi Perkins each had four kills to lead their teams in the early going.

Aquinas raced out to a 6-2 lead over the Racers in the second set. But, UNOH evened the score back up at 10, 11 and 13. The Saints then forged ahead to gain another four-point lead at 17-13, which was spearheaded by kills from Perkins and Ryleigh Blough, plus an ace from libero Jennifer Johnson. The Racers responded with a 5-0 run and forced AQ into a timeout down 18-17.

Both teams went on mini runs out of the timeout before another break in the action was called at 20-20. UNOH eventually put the second set away by scoring five out of the last seven points. Four of the Racers' final six points came from Logan Thomas who provided three kills and a set-ending ace.

UNOH jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the third set. Aquinas fought back to get the deficit within four points at 13-9, but didn't have enough in the tank to force a fourth frame. The Racers hit a match-high .280 attack percentage in the third set to put the match away. 

Thomas (11), Martin (10) and Perkins (10) all finished the match with double-digit kills. Martin also had seven of her team's 15 aces — the most Aquinas has given up all season. The Saints also couldn't get much offense going with just 26 kills on a .132 attack percentage.

Blough finished with five kills and two blocks. Johnson provided a match-high 10 digs.

The Saints conclude this two-match weekend road trip against previously unbeaten (RV) Indiana Tech on Saturday (Sept. 24) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. After winning 17 straight to start the season, the Warriors lost their first match on Friday (Sept. 23) to No. 23 Cornerstone in a five-set marathon by scores of 28-26, 17-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-12.

Aquinas has won four out of its last six meetings against Indiana Tech.