ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team picked up a pair of wins in its invitational defeating Emporia State 3-1 and Southern Arkansas 3-0 on Friday at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 2-1 on the season.
UMSL 3 Emporia State 1
In the Tritons first match of the day they overcame a five-point deficit in the opening set as they outscored the Hornets 14-2 over the remainder of the set to win 25-18. UMSL hit .290 in the stanza and was led by
Hailey Flowers with four kills in six swings while
Charlotte Richards added three and
Delaney Humm,
Hannah Copeland and
Lexie Rang had two each.
The second frame was the tightest of the four with 15 ties and nine lead changes. Emporia led by as many as four at 13-9 after a kill from Leah Mach but the Tritons responded with an 8-3 run to take a 17-16 lead. The two sides went back and forth but it was UMSL to get to set point first at 24-23 after
Karli Dean stuffed Winny Harris at the net. The Tritons were unable to close out the set though as the Hornets scored the final three points of the stanza win the set 26-24 and even the match at a set apiece.
UMSL used a 6-1 run midway through the swing frame to grab a six-point lead. ESU battled back to within 14-12 after a kill from Harris but that would be the closest it got as the Tritons closed the set on an 11-2 run to win it 25-14.
UMSL dominated the fourth set hitting .400 while its defense held the Hornets to a .065 hitting percentage on its way to a 25-13 set victory. Rang, Copeland and Richards had four kills apiece in the stanza while Flowers added three.
The Tritons finished the match hitting .308 (58 kills/17 errors/133 swings) and had four players reach double figures in kills led by Flowers with 16 while Richards and Copeland had 12 apiece and Rang finished with 11.
Caitlin Bishop dished out a match-high 36 assists, Richards had a match-high 15 digs and Dean finished with a match-high seven blocks.
Emporia was held to a hitting percentage of .121 with 41 kills against 24 errors in 141 chances. Orianna Clements led the Hornets with 10 kills. Riley Bernskoetter had 21 assists and Megan Stretton finished with 14 digs.
UMSL 3 Southern Arkansas 0
In the evening match against the Muleriders (0-2) the Tritons seized control with a 7-1 run to turn an early deficit into a five-point lead. UMSL led by as many as nine in the frame on its way to a 25-16 victory. It hit .378 in the stanza with 18 kills against four errors in 37 chances.
The middle frame was tied at five when the Tritons pulled away scoring 20 of the final 23 points to win the set 25-8. Rang had six kills in the set while Richards added four and
Mya Elliott had three.
UMSL carried that dominance over into the final stanza. After giving up the first point, the Tritons scored the next seven points to take a six-point lead. SAU closed to within seven after a kill from Landry Rogers to make it 12-5 but that would be the closest it got as UMSL finished the match on a 13-3 run to complete the sweep with a 25-8 victory.
The Tritons hit .379 in the contest recording 44 kills against eight errors in 95 chances. Elliott had a match-high 14 kills and hit .875 in the contest while Richards had 12 and Rang finished with 11. Bishop had a career-high 37 assists and Adams finished with 14 digs.
UMSL's defense held the Muleriders to a .012 hitting percentage with 18 kills against 17 errors in 81 swings. Rogers and Isla Olivas had four kills apiece. Morgan Schuster had 14 assists and Samantha Still had 11 digs.
The Tritons conclude the UMSL Triton Invitational taking on Saint Leo at 4:30 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
