ST. CHARLES, MO. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team closed out the Lindenwood Invitational with two victories on Saturday, posting a 3-0 win over Harding before knocking off the host Lions, 3-1.
 
The Tritons improve their ledger to 3-5 and stay on the road next weekend, opening Great Lakes Valley Conference play at Saint Joseph's and Indianapolis on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
 
UMSL 3, Harding 0 (25-21, 25-22, 28-26)
UMSL hit a season-high .259 en route to the win and was led by freshman Maddy Russell's 12 kills, nine digs and five blocks.
 
Senior Lindsay Meyer dished out 24 assists, while freshman Kayla Shane added 17 to direct the offense.
 
Defensively, freshman Olivia Gillum recorded 25 digs, while senior Jessica Ploss finished with seven blocks to go with nine kills. UMSL out-blocked the Bison, 8-6, with Russell and Ploss combining for six of those blocks.
 
Ploss tallied five of her kills in the first set as UMSL led from the start, while in set two, Russell and senior Carly Ochs each finished with four kills. The Tritons scored three straight to end the set and break the 22-22 tie.
 
The final frame featured 12 score ties and eight lead changes and saw the Bison with three set points, including 26-25, before the Tritons scored three straight to end the match, including two kills from Russell, who finished the set with five kills.
 
UMSL 3, Lindenwood 0 (25-19, 18-25, 25-22, 26-24)
The Tritons recorded a season-best 11 blocks to help limit Lindenwood (6-2) to .155 hitting. The Lions racked up 57 kills to UMSL's 49, but the Tritons hit slightly better at a .167 clip.
 
Senior Hannah Miller was one of three players in double digit kills with 11, while Russell and sophomore Gina Pezze each finished with 10. Russell accounted for five blocks, while Miller and junior Lexi Rogers had four each.
 
Meyer and Shane recorded 21 and 18 assists, respectively, while Shane also served up three aces. Gillum tallied 19 digs.
 
UMSL hit .250 in the first set, but dipped to .062 in the second set with just eight kills, while Lindenwood hit .296 behind 14 kills.
 
Lindenwood raced out to a quick 4-0 lead in the third set and extended its advantage to 16-12 before a 10-4 run by the Tritons gave them the 22-20 lead. Kills from Pezze and Miller later made it set point and after a Lions kills, a Miller solo block ended the set.
 
In the fourth set, UMSL staged an 11-4 lead, scoring six points on Lindenwood errors. The Tritons extended the lead to 18-10, forcing a Lions timeout and saw the home team respond with seven unanswered to pull within 18-17. Three straight Lindenwood points later gave them a 23-22 lead before a timeout and a Pezze kill ended the threat. A Lions kills made it set point, but a Miller kill and two Lindenwood errors ended the match.
 
Pezze posted five kills in the fourth set.

TOURNAMENT NOTES: Freshman Maddy Russell led the Tritons with 3.14 kills, 2.43 digs and 0.93 blocks per set... senior Jessica Ploss tallied 15 blocks in the four matches, bringing her career total to 318, which ranks seventh in program history... Ploss had 281 career block assists, which ranks third in program history... the Tritons averaged 2.21 blocks per set... senior Erin Walker averaged 3.57 digs per set.