Blackburn volleyball lost a conference match to Webster University on Friday, March 5th. Webster took the match in three sets, by the following scores:

Set 1: Blackburn 11, Webster 25

Set 2: Blackburn 19, Webster 25

Set 3: Blackburn 22, Webster 25

Webster opened up the scoring early and did not let up. Lauren Borik collected a pair of kills to open the first set, followed by an error from Blackburn, giving Webster a 3-0 lead. Blackburn then answered by scoring two points, however strong defense from Webster led to a five point streak. This forced a timeout from Blackburn when the score was 8-2. Delaney Demman was responsible for multiple aces following the timeout, leading to an 11-2 lead for Webster. Elizabeth Bowyer finally ended the drought for Blackburn by obtaining a kill.

Lucy Magnussen and Kiah Bedwell led Blackburn in kills, both tallying six. Elizabeth Bowyer finished with four, and Kasey Bean finished with three. Strong defense by Webster prevented Blackburn from obtaining extra points.

In the second set, Webster jumped ahead, however Blackburn fought back and tied the set. The score was 10-10, and eventually became 12-12 when Magnussen got a kill off of a great assist from Autumn Wilson. Wilson was the sole leader for Blackburn in assists, collecting all 20 of the team's total assists. Webster eventually stretched their lead to 17-13, forcing a timeout from Blackburn. Following the timeout, Blackburn scored four straight points, tying the game at 17 thanks to a service ace from Holly Heuerman. Webster then took their first timeout. Following the timeout, Webster stretched their lead on Blackburn to 23-19. After Blackburn's second timeout, an error by Blackburn followed by a kill from Lauren Borik ended the second set.

Borik led Webster with thirteen kills. She was also responsible for three service aces, as well as five assists. Alexis Wolf followed close behind Borik, tallying nine kills out of 22 total attacks. Ali Spohr also contributed to Webster's victory, racking up seven kills of her own.

Defensively, Blackburn was led by Amanda Swedberg, who had 14 digs and 16 service receptions. Emilie King was not far behind, totaling ten digs and eleven service receptions. Holly Heuerman finished with eight digs and 16 service receptions.

Webster won the third set thanks to strong defense from the libero, Kyra Gensel. She totaled eight digs, 21 service receptions, one assist, and one kill off of a dig. Tori Cicherelo led Webster in digs, totaling thirteen. 

Blackburn was forced to take a timeout in the third set when Webster was leading 13-7. Blackburn couldn't answer for Borik's strong attacks, which resulted in multiple points for Webster. Errors committed by Blackburn eventually gave Webster a stronger lead in the third set, until the score was 24-19. Blackburn mounted a small comeback, forcing a timeout when the score was 24-22. However, Ali Spohr ended the match with a kill after the timeout.

As a result of this game, Blackburn now moves to an overall record of 3-5. Their next match will be a home game against Iowa Wesleyan University. The game is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, March 10th, at 7:00 p.m.