Loma Linda, Calif. — The Aquinas women's volleyball team capped its trip to California with a convincing 3-0 win over The Master's on Friday evening (Aug. 18) after falling 3-0 to Saint Katherine earlier in the day. The Saints return home with a 3-2 overall record. For the third time in the last four years, the program has bolstered a winning mark through its first five games of the season. 

Official stats provided by the tournament hosts are used in the match summaries below, but they're subject to change upon further review and pending corrections.

Saint Katherine 3, Aquinas 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-20)

Friday got off to a rocky start for the Saints, as the Firebirds of Saint Katherine rolled to a three-set victory. AQ struggled to get its offense going with 25 kills and 19 errors on 91 attack attempts (.066 hitting percentage).

Cece Pelak led the Saints with seven kills, while nobody else had more than four. Samee Teachworth provided four total blocks and Jordyn Carlyle had 11 digs.

The Firebirds raced out to a 14-1 lead in the first set, used a 5-1 run to close out the second set and pulled away in the final frame with seven straight points to reach match point from 17-16 to 24-16. A kill from Addison Metts seal the win at 25-20.

Aquinas 3, The Master's 0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-15)

After a few hours to cool off and reflect, the Saints had a better performance in Friday's second contest against The Master's. 

Aquinas built up a commanding 10-point lead in the first frame, 21-11, before letting the Mustangs claw back into the set. On AQ's fifth set-point, setter Lydia Harper finally pushed the Saints to a 1-0 lead with a timely kill. Harper caught The Master's off guard a few times with six kills on eight attempts while offering up 28 assists.

The Saints gradually built out a small cushion in the second set before things started to come back together approaching the final points. Holding a slim 23-22 lead, AQ picked up a kill from Pelak and an ace from Julia Schweihofer to go up 2-0.

AQ had 11 team aces in the match with Harper having five of them.

Tied at 13-13, the Saints finished their California Trip on a high by scoring 12 out of the last 14 points. Senior Abbi Perkins put down the match-ending kill at 25-15. 

Michelle Domey led the Saints with 12 kills (.320 hitting percentage).

Next up, the Saints get to play in front of their home supporters inside the Sturrus Sports & Fitness Center next Friday (Aug. 25). AQ will be hosting a tri-match against Goshen and Calumet College of St. Joseph. They will play Goshen first at 3 p.m., followed by its two opponents playing at 5 p.m. and then AQ against Calumet St. Joseph at 7 p.m.