QUINCY, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team clinched its first regional title in program history in dramatic fashion on Saturday as the Tritons reverse swept No. 3 seed Ferris State to win a thriller at Pepsi Arena in Quincy, Ill. UMSL improves to 24-6 on the season while the Bulldogs finish their season with a 26-10 record.
The Tritons now advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals which will be held Dec. 1-3 at Royal Brougham Pavilion on the campus of Seattle Pacific in Seattle, Wash.
The opening set went back-and-forth with nine ties and four lead changes. The Tritons led by three early, but Ferris State rallied to take a 15-13 lead after Kaylee Maat and Syann Fairfield blocked Lexie Rang. UMSL still trailed by three late in the stanza but rallied with a 4-1 run to even the set at 20 after an attack error by Chelsie Freeman.
The Bulldogs retook the lead at 21-20 after an error by Rang but the Tritons evened it up on the next point thanks to a service error from Leah Bylut. UMSL was unable to regain the lead as FSU scored the final four points to take the opener 25-21.
The second set was even tighter with 16 ties and six lead changes. The Tritons led by as many as three at 17-14 after a kill from Charlotte Richards but the Bulldogs scored six of the next eight points to take a 20-19 lead after a kill from Maat. UMSL responded scoring three of the next four points to reclaim the lead at 22-21 after a kill from Hailey Flowers. Ferris State evened things at 22 with a kill from Fairfield but the Tritons got back-to-back kills from Rang and Richards to retake the lead at 24-22 and had two chances to close out the set.
The Bulldogs fought off the two set points and tied it at 24 after Richards was blocked by Freeman and Claire Nowicki. Richards bounced back with a kill on the next possession to give UMSL a 25-24 lead and a third chance to close out the stanza but once again FSU stayed alive with a kill from Freeman. The Tritons took one more lead at 26-25 with a kill from Hannah Copeland but the Bulldogs scored the final three points to win the set 28-26 and take the 2-0 lead.
UMSL built a five-point lead midway through the middle stanza but Ferris State cut the deficit to 15-13 after an ace from Maat. That would be the closest it got as the Tritons scored 10 of the final 15 points to extend the match with a 25-18 victory.
UMSL gave up the first point of the fourth frame but wouldn’t trail the remainder of the set as they went on an 8-2 run to take a five-point lead. The lead grew to as many as nine at 23-14 after a kill from Rang. The Bulldogs cut the margin to seven but back-to-back kills from Rang gave the Tritons a 25-16 win to force a fifth set.
UMSL fell behind 2-0 in the deciding set but scored the next five points to take a three-point lead. The Tritons still led by three at the changeover, but Ferris State rallied with a 5-2 run to even the frame at 10 after consecutive errors from Richards and Copeland. UMSL took a timeout to regroup and came out of the timeout scoring three straight points. The Bulldogs got a kill from Freeman to pull within two at 13-11 but wouldn’t get any closer. An attack error by Henneman-Dallape set up championship point for the Tritons. After a long rally, Maat punched one over the net to keep the play alive, but it landed out of bounds triggering the on-court celebration.
UMSL hit .241 for the match with 74 kills against 22 errors in 216 chances. Richards and Rang were tied for the match-high with 20 kills apiece while Flowers added 13 and Copeland finished with 11. Caitlin Bishop handed out a career-high 62 assists while Mya Elliott had four blocks and Kylie Adams had a career-high 30 digs.
Ferris State hit .192 in the contest with 60 kills against 20 errors in 208 attempts. Henneman-Dallape led the Bulldogs with 16 kills while Emma Bleecher had 12 kills and Fairfield finished with 10 kills. Maat distributed 45 assists, Freeman and Maat had six blocks each and Bylut finished with a match-high 33 digs.
Bishop, Flowers, Rang and Richards were named to the All-Midwest Regional tournament team.
The Tritons will find out their opponent in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Monday after the four remaining regional championships are finished on Sunday.
