PENSACOLA, FLA. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team wrapped up play at the Hampton Inn-vitational, hosted by West Florida on Saturday with a 3-1 loss to Bridgeport and a 3-0 loss to No. 3 ranked Southwest Minnesota State, the defending NCAA DII national runner-up.
 
UMSL (0-4) returns to action next weekend at the Lindenwood Invitational with two matches on Friday and two on Saturday.
 
Bridgeport 3, UMSL 1 (13-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-23)
The Tritons hit .333 in the opening set win behind an early 9-2 lead, which included a stretch of nine straight points. UMSL also scored six straight late in the set to turn a 16-10 lead into a 21-10 cushion. Freshman Maddy Russell had two of her four kills in that set during that run.
 
The Knights battled back to wins in the next two sets, limiting the Tritons to just a combined .027 hitting.
 
Four straight points, including back-to-back kills from Russell in the fourth set, helped UMSL to an early 8-5 lead. Later, two straight kills from senior Jessica Ploss later sparked a 3-0 run that put the Tritons on top 22-20, however Bridgeport finished the match by scoring five of the final six points, including three straight for the win.
 
Russell tallied her first collegiate double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs and added a pair of service aces, while Ploss followed with nine kills and four blocks. Senior Carly Ochs came off the bench to contribute eight kills.
 
Senior Lindsay Meyer dished out 28 assists and added nine digs and two aces, while freshman Alivia Brinker led the back line with 17digs.
 
The Tritons hit .107 as a team, while Bridgeport hit .213 and held a 14-10 blocking advantage.
 
Southwest Minnesota State 3, UMSL 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-17)
Junior Kara Roggemann tallied a career-high nine kills in the loss, while junior Lexi Rogers added six kills, committing just one error in nine swings for a .556 attack percentage.
 
However, the Tritons saw the Mustangs hit .352 as a team and own a 14-5 blocking advantage. UMSL was limited to 33 kills and a .158 attack percentage.
 
Defensively, Brinker recorded her second straight 17-dig match.