BOURBONNAIS, ILL.- St. Thomas (5-6) played two matches, Grace (11-9) and Taylor (14-7), on Friday at the Holiday Inn Express Tournament and split the day.
 
The sole win on the day came against Grace College, a five set victory to put the Bobcats at 2-0 in five set matches on the season, as they powered through and won the final two sets to take the win (25-13, 15-25, 23-25, 25-12, 15-12).
 
St. Thomas opened the first set on its terms, as the team earned points whatever which way it wanted. In the first set alone, Kimberly Martino registered 12 assists while Whitney Battoe, Carly Durr and Courtney White scored five, four, and three points, on kills, respectively.
 
As the sets would further, although the second and third sets went in favor of the Lancers, Battoe and Durr were unstoppable. The phrase "on fire" simply could not describe how wonderful these two were playing on the day.
 
After the first two sets went in favor of each team, one a piece, the third set brought some of the closest action. GC would jump on an early lead of 10-6, but St. Thomas would bounce back and bring this match to a tie at 19-19 through a resilient fight. White linked up with two different Bobcats late in the third to bring the momentum back in favor of STU with the score line reading 19-19. Durr, White, Martino and Carli Batsel took care of things both defensively and offensively. Although the third set was dropped by STU by a final of 23-25, it was the preamble to the intense fourth and fifth sets.
 
The fourth set opened closer than any other set as it was a continuation of the back and forth that closed out the third. The runs were very limited as both teams would have an answer to each point scored.
 
On the defensive end, the fourth set proved to be the best defensive set in the match. Of the 102 digs STU earned, 33 of them came in this do or die set. A constant presence on both offense and defense from the Bobcats didn't allow the Lancers to make an impact on the set. Haley Bannister dug 15 of her match-high 38 digs in this set.
 
Late in the fourth, after being tied at 9-9, the Bobcats went on an incredible 16-3 run to close out the fourth and force a fifth set.
 
After opening the fifth set with five ties, STU came up with a fantastic win. It was as dramatic a win as it sounded.
 
Defensively, this match brought insane numbers as St. Thomas tallied as a team, 102 digs. The effort and the will to win was visible on each and every rally as both teams produced a great match.
 
Notable numbers from the first match came from outside hitters Battoe (21 kills, 26 digs) and Durr (17 kills, three blocks) and Bobcat setter Martino (49 assists).
 
On the defensive end, Bannister earned 38 digs and three service aces while White blocked three times.
 
The second match of the day brought more of the same from STU although the victory fell in to the hands of Taylor. A tough fought match as each set went down to the wire. It looked as if the Bobcats were going to force yet another five setter on the day. The final score read 3-1 (24-26, 20-25, 25-23, 23-25) in favor of TU.
 
In the second match, Battoe registered 19 kills and 11 digs while Durr recorded 13 kills and three blocks. 35 assists went in the direction of Martino, as Bannister went 30 or more digs in the two matches on the day as she dug successfully 30 times.

Next up for the Bobcats is day two of the Holiday Inn Express Tournament as the team looks to close out the trip with a pair of wins against host school Olivet at 11 a.m. CT/12 p.m. ET and Indiana Wesleyan at 3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET.

To follow the stats live: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stu/