ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Mississippi University for Women had a tough time bouncing back from Friday's thrilling five-set win over Blackburn College (25-22, 19-25, 18-25, 25-17, 20-18), dropping both matches on Saturday versus host Fontbonne University (25-10, 25-14, 25-19) and Spalding University (25-17, 25-21, 25-18) in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) weekend matches. Playing three matches in a span of 20 hours, the Owls return from the road trip 2-8 overall and 1-4 in the SLIAC.
 
Versus Blackburn College to begin the weekend on Friday evening, The W employed a gritty come-from-behind effort to win the marathon match. After winning set 1 versus the Beavers, host BC took set Nos. 2 and 3 to put the Owls' back against the wall. MUW responded with a comfortable set 4 win and then slugged it out in an "overtime" fifth frame (20-17).
 
Amonie Silas (Olive Branch, Miss.) had the big swing for MUW, knocking down a team-leading 12 kills and sporting a .20 attack average for the night. Silas also had three assisted blocks.
 
Sophomore transfer Haley Ridings (Millport, Ala.) had a nice all-around effort. Ridings had eight kills, and made just one error, in 19 attacks, good for a match-high .368 attack average. She also topped the Owls with two aces and four total blocks.
 
Llayne Skinner (Danville, Ala.) matched Ridings with eight kills, to go along with her 18 digs.
 
The setter tandem of Hannah Duran (Madison, Miss.) and Camryn Johnson (Caledonia, Miss.) had 16 and 14 assists, respectively.
 
Senior libero Madison Suggs (Caledonia, Miss.) had 22 digs.
 
In the first Saturday match versus host Fontonne University (8-5, 3-1 SLIAC), The W was out-hit in total kills, 41-17, in the three sets. The Owls failed to serve any aces, nor posted a single block versus the Griffins' 107 attack attempts.
 
That resulted into fairly pedestrian stat totals for The W. Maggie Griggs (Tupelo, Miss.) and Silas led the squad with five and four kills, respectively. Griggs had the team's top attack percentage, making just one error in 12 attempts.
 
Suggs buoyed the backrow, with nine digs. Junior teammates Skinner and Duran each contributed eight digs on defense. Duran had a team-best eight assists, as well.
 
In its afternoon tilt versus Spalding (5-8, 2-2 SLAIC) – the second time the teams had meet within a week – MUW found itself more competitive, but with the same final result.
 
Skinner was the only Owls' attacker in double-digit kills, with 10. She also had seven digs in the back row.
 
Silas and Jamya Fondren (Oxford, Mss.) each chipped in six kills. Griggs added five kills, as well. Fondren, Emma Hall (Bear Creek, Ala.) and Ridings each contributed two assisted blocks to The W's scoring, as well.
 
Suggs and Johnson led the Owls in digs and assists, respectively. Suggs led all backrow players with 18 digs versus the Golden Eagles, while Johnson had 10 helps. Duran was close behind Johnson with nine assists.
 
Johnson and Allison Carpenter (Ocean Springs, Miss.) each served up a pair of aces.
 
The W will take a brief respite from SLIAC competition when it next hosts regional-rival Belhaven University on Tuesday (Oct. 2/6 p.m.) at Pohl Gym.