SEATTLE – The seventh seeded University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team saw its 2022 season end with a 3-1 loss to third seeded West Texas A&M in the NCAA Semifinals on Friday afternoon at the Royal Brougham Pavilion in Seattle, Wash.
The Tritons fell behind 5-1 to begin the match but came back to take a two-point lead at 18-16 after a kill from
Lexie Rang just past the midway point of the frame. The Lady Buffs (32-4) retook the lead at 21-20 after a kill from Camy Jones as part of a 5-2 run.
UMSL evened the set at 21 after a kill from
Charlotte Richards but West Texas A&M got a kill from Jones and an ace serve from Ainsley Malis to grab a 23-21 lead.
Hailey Flowers brought the Tritons back to within 23-22 with a kill but Torrey Miller gave the Lady Buffs two set points with a kill. UMSL fought off the first set point as Flowers blocked Abi Nash but couldn't extend the stanza as Taytum Stow recorded a kill to give WTAMU a 25-23 opening set victory.
The Tritons led by as many as four in the second frame and still led 12-9 halfway through the set. The Lady Buffs went on an 8-3 run to grab a two-point lead after a kill from Miller. UMSL fought back to even it at 17 after back-to-back attack errors from Stow and Emma Becker but West Texas A&M countered scoring four of the next five points to grab a 21-18 lead. The Tritons got back-to-back kills from Richards to cut the deficit to one at 21-20 but that would be the closest they got as the Lady Buffs scored four of the final five points to take the stanza 25-21.
The third set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. UMSL broke a 12-all tie with a 4-1 run to grab a 16-13 lead but WTAMU battled back to even the set at 17. The Tritons countered with four straight points to take its largest lead of the frame at 21-17 after a kill from Richards. The Lady Buffs came back getting to within 24-23 before
Hannah Copeland ended it with a block of Stow to give UMSL a 25-23 victory.
The Tritons trailed by as many as five in the fourth stanza but battled back to tie it at 14 after a bad set from Blair Moreland. West Texas A&M scored four of the next five points to regain the lead at 19-15. UMSL had one final run in it as it fought its way back to within 24-23 after a kill from Flowers which forced the Lady Buffs to take a timeout. WTAMU would win the set on the next point as Miller and Stow teamed up to block
Mya Elliott to give the Lady Buffs the 25-23 win.
The Tritons finished the contest hitting .158 with 56 kills against 25 errors in 196 attempts. Richards and Flowers led the way with 18 kills each.
Caitlin Bishop handed out 48 assists,
Kylie Adams finished with 29 digs and Copeland had eight blocks.
West Texas A&M hit .229 in the match registering 68 kills against 24 errors in 192 chances. Miller had a match-high 22 digs while Stow added 13 and Kayla Elliott finished with 11. Moreland had 29 assists, Bryli Contreras contributed 37 digs and Stow finished with 11 blocks.
UMSL finishes one of its best seasons in school history with a record of 25-7.
