LEBANON, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team extended its winning streak to four by sweeping McKendree at the Melvin Price Convocation Center on Friday evening in Lebanon, Ill. The Tritons improve to 18-5, 9-1 GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 9-15, 4-7 GLVC.
UMSL's win keeps them tied with Quincy atop the GLVC standings after the Hawks swept Rockhurst on Friday evening. The Tritons and Quincy have a two-game lead over the trio of Rockhurst, Lewis and Missouri S&T who are in a three-way tie for third.
UMSL dominated the opening set hitting .406 with 14 kills against one error in 32 swings while holding McKendree to a negative .032 attack percentage (8-9-31). The Tritons led by as many as 14 points in the stanza to take the opener 25-11.
Hailey Flowers had five kills in the frame while
Hannah Copeland and
Lexie Rang had three kills apiece.
The middle set was back and forth early before UMSL pulled away midway through the set and held a 17-11 lead after a service ace from
Rylee Edson. McKendree rallied thanks to a 9-4 run to cut the Triton lead to 21-20 after a kill from Lauren McCurley. UMSL closed out the frame scoring four of the final five points to win 25-21 to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Tritons fell behind 7-3 to start the third stanza before rallying by scoring 10 of the next 13 points to take a 13-10 advantage after a kill from Rang. It was a lead that UMSL wouldn't relinquish as it scored five of the next six points to extend its lead to 18-11. The Bearcats wouldn't get closer than six points the rest of the way as the Tritons won 25-18 to complete the sweep.
UMSL hit .244 for the contest with 46 kills against 16 errors in 123 chances. Rang and
Charlotte Richards led the way with 11 kills each while Flowers finished with 10 kills.
Caitlin Bishop had 40 assists,
Mya Elliott added three blocks and Richards finished with a match-high 20 digs.
McKendree was held to a .075 attack percentage with 27 kills against 19 errors in 106 swings. Colleen Preusser and Emma McIlhargie led the Bearcats with six kills apiece. Amber Williams had 12 assists and 12 digs while Claire Diercks finished with four blocks.
The Tritons play their final road game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon traveling to Indianapolis to take on the Greyhounds at 2 p.m. (CDT).
