BURNABY – Brooke Dexter and Jocelyn Sherman had 28 kills and the SFU Red Leafs almost swept the Saint Martin's Saints Thursday evening, settling for a 3-1 victory in front of 234 fans in the West Gym. Set scores were 25-15, 25-23, 23-25 and 25-20.
 
It was the second straight win for the Red Leafs, who have also won four of their last five matches.
 
The Red Leafs were leading 23-22 in set three, and on the verge of a sweep, when the Saints got two big blocks and forced an error to take the last three points and set victory.
 
"We did a good job to regain our composure after not being able to finish the match in three sets," said SFU head coach Gina Schmidt. "We played composed in the fourth set and went back to the things we were having success with in the first two sets."
 
Dexter reached 15 kills, hitting at a .220 clip, and Sherman had 13 kills on .219 percent hitting to lead SFU, who had nine kills from Hanna Kolof and seven from Kalyn Hartmann. Sophie Lachapelle came off the bench to connect on five of 12 attempts (.250) to spark the Red Leafs.
 
Eva Person had a game-high 39 assists, 13 digs and three aces for the Red Leafs.
 
SFU (11-13 overall, 8-7 GNAC) had a 53-37 edge in kills and outhit the Saint, .167 to .0.80. SFU registered 10 aces in the match.
 
In the opening set SFU carved out a 16-13 lead before going on a 9-2 run for the win. SFU trailed 20-16 in the second set but went on an 8-2 run to lead the game at 24-22. Dexter finished off the Saints with a kill and 25-23 win.
 
SMU took the third set, and in the fourth, SFU led from start to finish, although the Saints got to withing two points several times but could never take the lead.
 
SFU will celebrate its seniors at its final home game on Saturday when it hosts Western Oregon at 7p.m.
 
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