JOLIET, Ill. - University of St. Francis split a pair of matches, losing to Cornerstone (MI) in four and sweeping Montreat (NC) in three, on the opening night of the USF Big Guns Classic at the school's Recreation Center Friday.

The Saints (22-10) lost for just the second time in 10 home matches and had won eight straight at home after losing their first home match to nationally-ranked Indiana Tech back on Sept. 1. After dropping the first game by a decisive 25-16 score, the Saints came back to even the match with a 25-20 win in game two. But Cornerstone pulled away late in game three to post a 25-20 win. The fourth game was tight throughout, with the Golden Eagles fighting off a late Saints' charge to win 25-23.

Freshman outside hitter Jazzmyne Robbins (La Salle-Peru H.S./Peru, IL) led the Saints with 19 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Kristee Conrad (Stagg H.S./Hickory Hills, IL) added 12 and junior middle blocker Lauren Hoffman (Plainfield South H.S./Plainfield, IL) finished with 10. Senior libero Courtney Ambrosch (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) led the defense with 27 digs and 28 serve receptions.

The Saints bounced back in the evening's second match and rolled to an easy win over Montreat. The Saints won by scores of 25-19, 25-13 and 25-14 and took command early in all three games.

Robbins led the way again with 9 kills. Hoffman added 8 with no hitting errors and junior middle blocker Kyrsten Becker (Rolling Meadows H.S./Arlington Heights, IL) was near perfect with 7 kills and no errors in just 8 total attacking attempts.

Ambrosch again paced the defense with 15 digs, while Becker led the club with 16 serve receptions.

The victory in the second match gave USF coach Cara Currier her 199th career collegiate head coaching win, with all of them coming in her eight seasons at St. Francis.

Currier will get her first shot at win No. 200 Saturday morning at 9 a.m. when the Saints play St. Ambrose (IA). USF finishes play in the Big Guns at 3 p.m. against Robert Morris. USF lost a four-game match to St. Ambrose back on Sept. 4 in a tourney at Illinois Tech. The Saints swept Robert Morris in three in an earlier Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference match in Chicago on Sept. 8.

In other Friday night matches at the Big Guns, St. Ambrose defeated Montreat in five games and then swept Cornerstone in three.