ST. AUGUSTINE – Sara Davis recorded a match-high 14 kills for Flagler College, but it wasn't enough as the University of Sioux Falls won a mutual season opener 3-1 (25-16, 14-25, 26-24, 25-13) in a non-conference volleyball match Thursday night at Flagler Gym.

Davis hit .314 for the match with only three errors on 35 swings. Taja Valmyr added eight kills, 11 digs and four total blocks. Genel Sturgeon came off the bench to provide seven kills. Tara Savisky tallied 28 assists in her first collegiate match. Another freshman, Peyton Pillsbury, collected a team-high 15 digs. Ashley Lechleidner-Rodriguez added another 14. Ashley Cheewah recorded four total blocks.
 
Flagler was limited to a .122 hitting percentage, which included a .353 (14-2-34) mark in the second set.

Sioux Falls, which plays in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, had a balanced offensive attack and was led by Makenna Rockeman's 12 kills and three total blocks. Michelle Ritland collected 11 kills and hit .444 with just three errors on 18 swings. Jordan Calef added 10 kills and seven total blocks for the Cougars. Aubrey Milne collected a match-high 31 digs while Kayla Crane tallied 20 assists.

The Cougars recorded 12 total team blocks and served up nine aces. Megan Hamstad had four of those aces.

Sioux Falls raced out to a 17-9 lead in the first set and weathered a 6-2 run by Flagler to take the first set 25-16. Crane collected seven kills for USF.

The Saints dominated in the second set as they held an 18-7 lead and then ran it to 21-10. Sioux Falls made a short-lived 3-0 run before Flagler put the set away 25-14. Davis led the Saints with five kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Sturgeon also had five kills and she hit .556.

The third set featured 16 ties and five lead changes. Neither side held a lead larger than three points. The Saints took a 23-22 lead after a hitting error by Lexi Scott. Following a Sioux Falls timeout, Davis hit a ball wide of the court. The Saints quickly took a timeout but Rockeman recorded a kill for the Cougars after the break. Serving set point, Abby Folk's serve went long to knot the set 24-all. But Ritland and Calef recorded kills for the Cougars to end the set. Ritland finished the third hit with a .857 hitting percentage (6-0-7).

Sioux Falls, like the first set, jumped out to a big lead, 19-7, and went on to take the match with a 25-13 win. Milne led the Cougars with five kills and a .714 hitting percentage.

Flagler hosts the inaugural Flagler Volleyball Invitational which starts tomorrow (Sept. 4). The Saints take on Converse College at 7 p.m.