Written by Alex Kushel

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.- The Northwood University volleyball team struggled to get into an offensive rhythm as they fell to St. Thomas(Fla.) in three sets(16-25, 10-25, 15-25) in a Sun Conference matchup on Saturday.

The Seahawks dropped to 9-9 overall and 3-4 in conference play. The Bobcats won their eighth consecutive match and improved to 14-4 and a perfect 7-0 in the Sun Conference. 

The Seahawks had a 5-2 lead in the first set before the Bobcats rallied to take control. The Seahawks trailed 12-10, but the Bobcats pulled away with four straight points. 

After a slow start to the second set, the Seahawks were in a difficult position and were unable to recover. The Bobcats scored 11 of the first 12 points of the set. 

In the third set, the Seahawks trailed early in the set, 11-7. The Bobcats once again went on another run to take command and finished the match strong. 

"St. Thomas came out and took it to us," Seahawks volleyball head coach Chris Taylor said. "We gave them too many points and we can't do that against the top teams in our conference.  We have the talent to play with them and came out strong in the first set.  We just have to keep working to keep our level of play high from start to finish.  When we do that, we will be a dangerous team."

The Seahawks registered 24 kills, but also committed 24 errors in the loss. 

Sydney Fish led the Seahawks with six kills and four digs while Gida Victor chipped in with five kills.

Nicole Papineau registered 19 assists and seven digs while Ti'Ana Fox tallied 11 digs. 

The Seahawks will look to bounce back in conference play as they host Ave Maria on Wednesday, October 1 at 7 p.m.