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Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 57F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

Some clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 57F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.

Even the final point was drawn out.

By the narrowest of margins, the St. Francis Borgia volleyball Lady Knights edged Pacific Monday, 25-18, 22-25, 25-10, 23-25, 15-10.

“Both programs showed a lot of heart,” Borgia Head Coach CJ Steiger said. “They played us incredibly tough and this is the best we’ve played in a while. Our girls played extremely well, but hats off to Pacific. They played just as well on the other side. That’s what made this a great contest tonight.”

Pacific Head Coach Joe Brammeier felt it was a close match.

“It was very back-and-forth and energetic throughout the game,” Brammeier said. “There were a lot of big hits and blocks on both sides. There was great energy in the gym.”

Borgia (4-8-1) was able to pull out the victory, but had to sweat until the final point.

Pacific (7-6) forced Steiger to call two timeouts at match point before the Lady Knights won, 15-10. Pacific had been rallying after Borgia scored the first six points and had an eight-point edge at 12-4.

“We started strong in the fifth set, but volleyball is a game of momentum and we didn’t want to lose it,” Steiger said. “They had one big push left in them. Luckily, we had enough of a lead to pull it home, but give them credit. They fought hard tonight.”

Brammeier felt his team had a difficult task, but made the best of it.

“Those are the tough ones, when you come out and start with a big deficit and have to fight your way back,” Brammeier said. “Those are the hard ones to come back from. You’ve just got to try to dig deep and fight as hard as you can and stay focused.”

Madi Ulrich led the Lady Knights with 21 kills and added four digs.

“There was about a five-minute stretch where everything she touched was a kill,” Steiger said. “She had an awesome night for us. It’s not easy going from the left side, where she’s been playing most of the year, to the right side. She tore it up there and exceeded what I thought she could do there. She had an awesome game. The rest of the team had great ball control to be able to push it to her. It definitely was a great team win.”

Josie Charboneau was next with 15 kills, 14 digs and four blocks.

Gisele Bolzenius knocked down 14 kills with nine digs, one block and two aces.

Nina Klak and Sophie Hurst both had six kills. Klak added two blocks while Hurst had four blocks, three digs and three aces.

Joanna Gillen had five kills, three blocks and a dig.

Macy Strubberg added one kill, 19 assists and 12 digs.

Brooke Leesmann handed out 30 assists to go with 11 digs and one ace.

Molly Schroeder was the digs leader with 37 and added two assists.

For Pacific, Caroline Tomlinson led the attack with 11 kills, 18 digs and two blocks.

Kaitlin Payne posted eight kills, 13 digs and one block.

Annie Tomlinson notched eight kills, three blocks and three aces.

Carrison Tesar contributed seven kills and two digs.

Erin Brooks had seven kills and two blocks.

Baylee Moore contributed six kills and one dig.

Miah Bonds posted a double-double with 16 assists and 12 digs. She also had one ace.

Averi Parker handed out 25 assists with five digs.

Megan Langenbacher picked up 17 digs as libero.

Olivia Moore added a dig.

“It probably was the best that our defense played all year,” Brammeier said. “I hope it carries out that way more.”

The margin between the teams was razor thin throughout the match. In the first game, a five-point run midway through the set gave Borgia the separation it needed to win, 25-18.

Pacific led for most of the second set, but needed to fight off several Borgia comebacks to win it, 25-22.

The third game was the only blowout. Borgia raced out to a massive early lead and never looked back, powering to a 25-10 victory.

In the fourth game, the teams were tied at 22-22 before Pacific captured three of the final four points, forcing the fifth game.

In the final set, Borgia scored the first six points of the first-to-15 contest. The Lady Knights were up, 10-2, but Pacific stormed back to make it a contest. After two Borgia timeouts, and four chances at match point, the Lady Knights finally won.

The teams will play again in next week as both are in the Monday pool at the Hermann Tournament. Borgia is the top seed in the pool while Pacific is second. New Haven and Owensville are the other pool teams.

“I can’t wait until we get to see them again,” Brammeier said.

The pool match is slated for 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 26. 

Playing Friday, Borgia lost at Lafayette, 25-9, 25-14, 25-12.

Borgia plays Wednesday at O’Fallon Christian.

Pacific entered Four Rivers Conference play Tuesday at Sullivan. Pacific hosts New Haven Thursday.

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