ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Spalding women's volleyball team began a four game road trip on Monday night dropping a thriller to Fontbonne in five sets.
 
The Golden Eagles started out strong in the first set and took a commanding 16-11 lead, but the Griffins collected eight of the next ten points to take a 19-18 lead. Spalding would not regain the lead in the set and fell 25-23.
 
In the second set the Griffins jumped out to an early lead, but Spalding battled back to take a 14-8 lead, after trailing 4-1. They would not relinquish the lead and cruised to a second set victory, 25-17.
 
In a pivotal third set, Fontbonne once again took the early advantage, but just like in the second set Spalding was able to answer the Griffin attack. The two teams would go back and forth for much of the set before the Golden Eagles were able to grab a 23-18 lead. The Griffins put up a fight at the end but Spalding held on to win the set 25-23.
 
The fourth set belonged to the Griffins as they scored 14 of the first 20 points in the set and never looked back winning the set and forcing a fifth game with a 25-18 victory.
 
In the fifth and deciding set, Spalding jumped out to a 7-5 advantage putting together four points in a row. Fontbonne would do the same to regain the 9-7 lead back into their favor. With their backs against the wall the Golden Eagles once again put a string of points together to take a 14-13 lead. The lead could not hold as the Griffins scored three in a row to win the set and match against the Golden Eagles.   
 
Both teams were pretty evenly matched statistically both recording 52 kills and Spalding leading blocks nine to seven. The Golden Eagles recorded 15 aces, a new season-high.  Victoria Heitzman led Spalding with 14 kills. Erin Downs recorded 11 kills of her own, the most since September 5 versus Transylvania.
 
The Golden Eagles will be back in action tomorrow at Webster taking on the host Gorloks at 8:00 p.m. EST in Webster Groves, Mo.