WILLIAMSVILLE, Ill. – It turned out it was the fourth time was the charm as the University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball won its first Great Lakes Valley Conference championship defeating Quincy 3-1 on Sunday afternoon at the Williamsville High School Fieldhouse in Williamsville, Ill. The Tritons improve to 26-4 while the Hawks drop to 24-6.

After coming up short in its first three trips to the championship match, UMSL got an all-around team performance to defeat a solid Quincy team.

The Tritons trailed by as many as six points in the opening stanza at 22-16 but closed strong finishing the frame on a 9-1 run to take the opener 25-23. Alayna Santel had three kills in that run and UMSL took advantage of three Hawk attack errors to complete the comeback.

The Tritons led by as many as six points in the second set but Quincy made a late run pulling to within 21-18 after a service error by Skylar Weaver. The Hawks wouldn't as UMSL closed out the set, scoring four of the last five points to win 25-19. Santel and Iyannah Jackson had a kill each, Jackson added a block and Rylee Edson closed it out with an ace.

Quincy led by as many as five points at 19-14 in the third frame but the Tritons rallied once again to take a 24-23 lead and had a chance to serve out the match but a kill from Susanna Beretti extended the match for the Hawks. Santel recorded a kill to give UMSL its second championship but a service error tied it at 25. Quincy scored the final two points of the frame to win 27-25 to extend the match.

The fourth set was tightly contested and was tied at 18 when the Hawks used a 3-1 run to grab a 22-19 lead. The Tritons stormed back with three straight points to tie it at 22 but a Beretti kill gave Quincy the 23-22 lead. Hannah Copeland tied it with a kill and then Santel recorded back-to-back kills to clinch the title for UMSL.

The Tritons hit .302 in the contest with 66 kills against 14 errors in 172 attempts and were led by Santel and Maggie Johnson with 18 and 17 kills respectively. Copeland and Jackson had 11 and 10 kills apiece. Copeland led the with eight total blocks, Caitlin Bishop had 57 assists and Weaver finished with 22 digs.

Bishop, Johnson and Santel were named to the All-Tournament team for their performances over the weekend.

The Hawks hit .237 for the match recording 63 kills against 22 errors in 173 attacks and were led by Beretti with a match-high 20 kills while Janelle Pye-Blacknard added 17 kills. Elena Kasavica had 49 assists and two aces, Pye-Blacknard, Kasavica and Selin Turgut had two blocks each. Beretti also added 21 digs.

UMSL will find out its opponent on Monday night for the NCAA Midwest Regional during the NCAA Selection Show at 5:30 p.m.