QUINCY, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team defeated the Quincy Hawks 3-1 on Friday evening at Pepsi Arena. The Tritons (23-6), seeded fifth, advance to Saturday evening's NCAA Midwest Regional Final against third seeded Ferris State at 7:30 p.m.
UMSL will be making its first appearance in the regional final in program history.
The opening set was close early before the Tritons pulled away thanks to an 8-3 run as it built a six-point lead after a kill from
Hannah Copeland. The Hawks (28-3), seeded first, cut the lead to 18-12 after a kill from Alice Pavan but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL closed the set scoring seven of the last 10 points to take the stanza 25-15. The Tritons hit .389 in the frame with 17 kills against three errors in 36 chances.
Hailey Flowers had six kills in the set while Copeland and
Lexie Rang finished with four kills apiece.
The second stanza was tied at seven when Quincy pulled away with a 7-3 run to build a 14-10 advantage. UMSL wouldn't get closer than three the rest of the frame as the Hawks won 25-18 to even the match at a set apiece.
The Tritons trailed 16-9 in set three and appeared to be heading to a 2-1 deficit in the match but they regrouped and went on a 10-3 run to even the score at 19 after a kill from
Charlotte Richards. The Hawks retook the lead after back-to-back kills from Emily Rehagen and Emma Wijnbergen but UMSL refused to quit getting a kill from Richards and an ace from
Caitlin Bishop to tie it at 21. Quincy was the first to reach set point after a kill from Wijnbergen but the Tritons got consecutive kills from Rang to take a 25-24 lead.
The lead was short lived as Mattison Norris knotted it back up at 25 with a kill but UMSL regained the lead after a kill from Rang and then won the set when Bishop and
Mya Elliott blocked Rehagen to give the Tritons the 27-25 victory.
The fourth frame belonged to UMSL as they raced out to an 11-2 lead and never let the Hawks get closer than eight points in the set. The Tritons led by as many as 14 at 20-6 after Richards and Copeland blocked Rehagen. Quincy got to within 22-12 thanks to a 6-2 run but UMSL was able to finish it off by scoring three of the final five points to win 25-14.
The Tritons hit .337 for the match with 70 kills against 13 errors in 169 swings. Rang finished with a career-high 22 kills and a season and match high 27 digs. Richards and Flowers added 17 kills apiece. Bishop had 58 assists and Richards added six blocks.
The Hawks were held to a .225 hitting percentage with 56 kills against 18 errors in 169 chances. Pavan led four Quincy players in double figures with 14 kills. Wijnbergen added 13 kills while Norris had 12 kills and Rehagen finished with 11. Makayla Knoblauch had 47 assists while America Galvan finished with 25 digs.
