Score: VCU 3, Saint Louis 1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-22, 25-21)
Location: St. Louis, Mo. (Chaifetz Pavilion)
Records: VCU 5-7 (2-0 A-10), Saint Louis 7-7 (0-2)
 
The short story: VCU completed a sweep of a two-match road swing to begin Atlantic 10 Conference play behind seniors Ana Brangioni and Jasmine Knight, as well as junior Parker Hartzell, Saturday at Saint Louis.
 
OPENING VOLLEY

• Knight blasted 10 kills and hit .467 in 15 attempts, while providing five blocks defensively, for the Black and Gold
• Brangioni spiked a 11 kills and added 10 digs, four blocks and an ace for the Rams
• Hartzell supplied a match-high 14 kills on the day and hit .312 for VCU
• On the back row, freshman libero Anja Kujundzic was credited with a match-best 18 digs
• Delaney Rice led Saint Louis for the second straight day with 12 kills

THE DIFFERENCE

• VCU hit .210 in the contest, including .341 in the match-clinching fourth set
• The Rams served nine aces and outblocked the Billikens 10-8
• Knight and Brangioni took over in the fourth set to cement the VCU victory. The senior duo produced nine kills on 18 attempts and did not commit a hitting error. Brangioni produced five of her digs in the fourth set alone
• VCU trailed 16-14 in the fourth, but Knight supplied a pair of kills and a block down the stretch as the Rams pieced together an 11-5 run the rest of the way

NOTABLE

• The fourth set alone featured 17 ties and 10 lead changes
• VCU has won three straight matches at Saint Louis
• Knight hit .391 and averaged 2.78 kills and 1.22 blocks per set on the weekend

NEXT UP

• VCU is set to kick off a five-match homestand in A-10 play when it hosts Duquesne in back-to-back matches Sept. 29-30 at the Stuart C. Siegel Center. Both of those matches can be streamed at ESPN+.