The match, however, was more competitive than the scores may show.

The Lady Cavaliers have a young, and fairly inexperienced team. STAA also has a six-player roster, which is only enough to have the same girls on the court for the entire match. In the end, despite the Cavaliers fighting till the end, Niagara’s superior passing and serving was the difference.

“We passed well tonight and we served well tonight, those are things we need to do in our style of play,” said Badgers head coach Carol St. Arnauld. “We did those things well in both of the first two sets.”

The Badgers got out to a 7-1 lead in the first set, off the serving of sophomore Morgan Borchardt. The match progressed, and as STAA called their second timeout, it was 21-9 Lady Badgers.

Matt McCarthy/Daily News photo Niagara’s Abigail Wells (15) spikes the ball over the net, trying to avoid the kill block of STAA’s Addison Pristelski (6). The Lady Badgers’ Alyssa Cretton (3) looks on.

In the second set, the Cavaliers got out to a 4-0 lead. The scoring then went back and forth, until Niagara took the lead for good at 10-9. With two different serving runs from Julia Brown and Abigail Wells, the Badgers found themselves ahead 18-11, holding on to win the set 25-15.

“Then in the third set, it all went away. We didn’t do the things we needed to do well enough. Plus our communication went away it seemed,” St. Arnauld said. “We got ourselves in a hole because of it, but we pulled it out in the end.”

The final set was very competitive; the score was see-saw back and forth. The score was tied at 6-6, 11-11, 12-12, 15-15 and 23-23. The Badgers would get ahead by a point or two, and STAA would claw back into the set.

STAA’s confidence increased and their play got better as the match wore on, while the Badgers were making uncharacteristic mistakes. Brown and Bailey Pearson served well for the Badgers in the final set, while sophomore Bryeli Smith and freshman Jenna Maxwell served well for the Cavaliers.

“I am happy with how we played tonight,” said Cavaliers head coach Katie Benson. “We have a young team, with no subs and only one senior to go along with one freshman and four sophomores.” Benson also noted that two of her players had never played volleyball until this season.

“We’re a close knit team, and we really scrap and work hard. I like what I see from them this season,” Benson added. “Addi Pristelski played multiple roles for us tonight, being strong at the net and doing some setting for us.”

“There were a couple of long volleys tonight, that we came away with, and I could see the girls’ confidence grow from that,” said Benson.

Niagara remains home for a M & O Conference matchup with Peshtigo on Saturday morning. The JV contest will begin at 10 a.m., with the varsity match to follow. On Monday, Niagara plays out of conference for the first time this season, when they travel to take on Iron Mountain.

“Our communication needs to get better,” St. Arnauld added. “I’ve been harping on the girls that we need to communicate better. If not, it’s going to eventually hurt us with two tough matches coming up in the next few days.”

Niagara Stats:

Jacobs- 5 digs

Cretton- 1 ace, 19 kills, 3 assists, 14 digs

Anderson-2 kills

Loukus– 1 dig

Brown-2 aces, 3 kills, 1 block, 3 assists, 13 digs

Borchardt- 4 aces, 6 kills, 33 assists, 5 digs

Wells-7 aces, 2 kills, 13 digs

Pearson 8 kills, 1 block, 8 digs

Allred-1 kill, 1 block, 1 assist, 2 digs

Maki: 1 dig

St. Thomas Stats:

Benson-5 aces, 4 kills, 6 assists, 1 dig

Maxwell- 5 aces, 1 dig

Knox- 8 kills, 1 block

Smith- 1 ace, 2 assists

Pristelski- 1 ace, 2 kills, 4 assists, 2 digs, 1 block

Peters- 2 digs