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BLUEFIELD, Va. -- The Bluefield College volleyball got off to a quick start on Friday evening, taking set one 25-18, but the visiting St. Andrews University squad battled back for three-straight wins to hand BC the 3-1 defeat in Appalachian Athletic Conference action at the Dome Gymnasium.

The Lady Rams drop to 1-7 overall and 0-2 in AAC play. Meanwhile, St. Andrews improves to 5-7 overall and 1-0 as they opened conference play.

Bluefield came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, taking a quick 8-5 lead and then spreading the advantage to five at 12-7 and forcing a visitor timout. The team continued to build a lead, with it growing to seven at 17-10.

Bluefield faced several set points, but successful attacks from the Knights made Head Coach Jim Butski use a couple of timeouts. Following the second, Jasmine Morrow provided the kill for the 25-18 opening set win.

Despite Bluefield holding a slim lead early in the second, the Knights began to find momentum and squared the set at 10-10. A 7-4 run from the visitors made it 17-14 and the lead ballooned to five at 21-16. SAU struggled to put the set away this time, as BC tallied four-straight to pull within 24-21. BC added one more, but the Knights claimed the 25-22 second set to square the match, 1-1.

The third saw SAU come out with a quick start, aided by several unforced errors from the Lady Rams. While Bluefield faced a 6-1 deficit, the squad battled back to square the score at 7-7.

The battle went back-and-forth once again as SAU opened a 15-11 lead, only to see Bluefield close to within two, 20-18, as the final points of the set became near. BC couldn't muster another strong rally though and St. Andrews took the set, 25-21 for a 2-1 lead.

The fourth set stayed close throughout as BC was within a pair of points on several occasions, but could not string together a run to overtake the visitors. St. Andrews claimed the fourth, 25-22, for the victory.

Jasmine Morrow's 16 kills paced the BC offense, while Lexie Austin provided a spark with six kills on 17 attempts for a team-best .353 hitting percentage. Marissa Grice and Kaitie Shaver tallied 17 and 16 assists, respectively, while Ashlyn Van Dyke, Ellen Johnson and Morrow recorded 18, 18 and 17 digs on the defensive side.

BC continues it's season's longest homestand of five games, Tuesday, hosting AAC opponent Milligan College. Start time is once again 6:30 p.m.