JOLIET — As the University of St. Francis volleyball team found out Tuesday evening at the USF Recreation Center, life is not easy just because you're the No. 1 seed.

Eighth-seeded Trinity International (13-22) battled USF's Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference co-champions to the very end before dropping a four-game quarterfinal match of the league tournament to the Saints, 30-17, 31-33, 30-28 and 30-21.

USF won the first game handily after jumping to an 8-0 lead behind the strong serving of junior Elaina Ambler (Mendota H.S./Mendota, IL).

The momentum, though, changed in game two as the Trojans led most of the way and held on for a 33-31 win to even the match.

The two teams traded leads through most of game three, but the Saints rallied at the finish to claim a 30-28 win thanks to some clutch kills from sophomore Kara Decker (Hall H.S./Spring Valley, IL) and a game-winner from freshman Kyrsten Becker (Rolling Meadows H.S./Arlington Heights, IL).

USF controlled game four from start to finish and finally put TIU's upset hopes to rest.

Ambler led USF with 19 kills, with senior Lisa Klein (Hall H.S./Ladd, IL) adding 17. Decker had a career-high 10 kills on the night.

Sophomore setter Kelsey Polte (Hall H.S./Spring Valley, IL) finished with 52 assists and put her name in the USF record books, breaking an 18-year-old mark for most assists in a single season. She now has 1,691 on the year to break the mark of 1,682 set by Kendra Horsman in 1989.

Junior libero Courtney Ambrosch (Joliet Township H.S./Joliet, IL) paced the Saints’ defense with a team-high 20 digs and added 21 passes in as many attempts. Ambler led USF with a total of 26 passes. Freshman middle blocker Lauren Hoffman (Plainfield South H.S./Plainfield, IL) posted a team-best four blocks.

With the win, USF (27-18) advances to Thursday's semifinal round and will play host to No. 5 seed Trinity Christian at 7:30 p.m. in the Rec Center.