ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team swept Rockhurst in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional on Thursday evening at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill. The win over the Hawks avenged the straight set loss to Rockhurst a week ago in the GLVC Tournament.
The Tritons (22-6) came out firing hitting .407 in the opening set with 14 kills against three errors in 27 swings. UMSL held an 8-7 lead before going on 8-0 run to extend its lead to nine midway through the frame. Rockhurst (20-8) wouldn't get closer than seven points the rest of the way as UMSL took the opener 25-15.
Lexie Rang had nearly half of the Tritons kills with six in the stanza while
Charlotte Richards and
Hailey Flowers added three kills apiece.
UMSL led for most of the middle frame and were ahead 16-13 when the Hawks scored back-to-back points to cut the lead to 16-15. The Tritons responded with a 5-1 run to take their largest led of the set at 21-16 after a kill from Richards. Rockhurst cut the margin to four after a kill from Kenzie Hines but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL scored the final three points of the set to take it 25-18.
Richards and
Hannah Copeland had four kills apiece in the frame while Rang added three more.
The Tritons never trailed in the final stanza as it built an early four-point lead after a kill from Rang. The Hawks closed to within 12-10 but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL pulled away with a 7-1 run to build their largest lead of the set at 19-11 after an error by Tera Reberry. The Tritons completed the sweep with a 25-18 victory.
UMSL hit an impressive .400 in the contest with 48 kills against eight errors in 100 chances. Rang and Richards led the way with 13 kills apiece while Flowers added 10.
Caitlin Bishop handed out 42 assists,
Mya Elliott added a pair of blocks and Richards finished with 12 digs for her 17th double-double of the season.
The Tritons held Rockhurst to a .226 hitting percentage with 30 kills against nine errors in 93 swings. Hines led the Hawks with nine kills while Reberry and Sarah Pyle finished with eight and seven kills respectively. Sarah Montague had 24 assists, Gracie LaForge added three blocks and Maureen Reilly finished with 14 digs.
UMSL will take on top-seeded Quincy in the Midwest Region semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Pepsi Arena. Quincy defeated eighth-seeded Northern Michigan in straight sets on Thursday.
