QUEENS, N.Y- The La Salle volleyball team faced St. John's and Niagara in day two of the Jack Kaiser Classic at St. John's. St. John's snapped the Explorers' undefeated streak when the Red Storm won the first contest of the day. In their second match of the day, the Explorers improved their record 7-1 against Niagara.

The Explorers opened the day against undefeated St. John's, who bested them in a 3-0 contest. The Red Storm controlled most of the first set, breaking away to capture the set 25-15.  La Salle hung with St. John's in the following two sets, but the Red Storm was able to pull ahead to win both sets  25-22 win the match.

Freshmen Jenny Edwards and Devin Corah posted nine kills apiece against the Red Storm. Senior Ashley Felton followed close behind with eight kills for the Explorers. Kathryn Wood tallied 23 total assists for the Explorers, while Jensen Sharrits posted 13 digs.  Sharrits also recorded one ace in the match against St. John's.

"Against St. John's we came out a bit tentative, but once we settled down we found some success at the serving line and were able to keep them out of the system enough to stay competitive," said head coach Caitlin Schweihofer. "They are the most physical opponent we have seen but we held our own defensively. Unfortunately we didn't perform that well in serve receive so we weren't able to set our attackers in system. Overall, I think we proved we can compete with some solid competition, but we still have work to do."

In their second contest of the day, La Salle captured a win over Niagara in four sets to finish the weekend [25-19, 19-25, 25-19, 25-21]. Corah posted 20 kills to lead the match, while Bryanna Davis collected 15 kills and Edwards recorded 11. Freshman Hayley Belcik posted her first ace, along with 14 digs in her debut in a La Salle jersey. Sharrits led the match with 21 digs, while Felton and Catherine Edgington posted three blocks apiece.

"Niagara plays similar to our style, and they were extremely aggressive and scrappy the entire match," said Schweihofer. "We came out strong in the first set, but didn't pass well in set two and ultimately lost. Fortunately, due to our attacking and blocking we were able to beat them at the net in set three and four. Hayley Belcik made a great debut this weekend, and her defensive efforts were excellent in all three matches. We also saw Jenny find some rhythm attacking on the outside."

La Salle took second overall in the classic. Corah and Sharrits were both named to the All-Tournament team for their efforts over the weekend.