Loretto, Pa. – The Le Moyne College volleyball team concluded the 2025 season in their second match against Saint Francis on the road on Saturday evening. SFU came away with a three-set victory, 25-15, 25-6, 25-17 as the Dolphins finished the year with a 4-24 record overall and 3-13 mark in conference play.
After junior opposite hitter Branwyn Lupton (Napanee, O.N. / Napanee District Secondary School) recorded a kill to give Le Moyne the opening point of set one, the Red Flash tallied 15 of the next 19 points to take a 15-5 lead. The two teams went back-and-forth in scoring for the remainder of the set as sophomore outside hitters Jazmin Rodriguez (Madera, C.A./Madera) and Payton Horan (Miller Place, N.Y. / Miller Place) each added kills, but it wasn't enough for the 'Phins as SFU closed out the frame with a 25-15 victory.
Set two was all Saint Francis as they put together a string of 15 straight points to come out to a quick 17-1 lead. Lupton put together a trio of kills in the set but multiple rallies from the Red Flash put them on top, 25-6, heading into the third set of the match.
Early kills from Lupton, freshman middle hitter Eiley Schneider (Ramsey, N.J./Ramsey), sophomore outside hitter/DS Piper Hooey (Elmira, N.Y. / Elmira), and sophomore outside hitter Nina Salas (Austin, T.X. / McNeil) put the Dolphins ahead, 9-7, midway through set three and the team fended off multiple three-point rallies to keep SFU at bay and the match tied at 15-all later on. However, after recording a third three-point streak to take an 18-15 advantage, Saint Francis closed out the set and match on seven consecutive points.
Lupton led Le Moyne with seven kills as Salas added five more for Le Moyne. Senior setter/DS Haley Gerken (Buffalo, N.Y. / Frontier) put up a team-best 10 assists against SFU as sophomore libero/DS Brooke Menke (St. Louis, M.O. / Visitation Academy) rounded out the offense with the team's lone service ace in the match.
On the defensive end, sophomore outside hitter Denali Louden (Murrieta, C.A. / Murrieta Mesa) led with eight digs while Salas added six receptions. Horan and Schneider each recorded one block assist for the Dolphins.
For Saint Francis, Korrin Burns tallied a match-leading 16 kills as Alexandra Sappia strung together 39 assists and six service aces in the victory. Defensively, Sappia led with eight digs while Kori McClure was the lone member of the Red Flash to register multiple block assists (two).
