INDIANAPOLIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis women's volleyball team split its two matches on the first day of the UIndy Invitational on Friday. The Tritons (4-2) fell to No. 21 Minnesota Duluth in five sets but bounced back to defeat Minnesota State in straight sets.
No. 21 Minnesota Duluth 3 Missouri-St. Louis 2
The Tritons led 18-17 in the opening set after
Lexie Rang and
Hannah Copeland teamed up to block Grace Daak. The Bulldogs (5-0) then went on a 5-0 run to take its largest lead of the set. UMSL wasn't able to get closer than three the rest of the stanza as UMD held on for the 25-20 victory.
The Tritons trailed 22-17 in the second set before going on a 7-1 run to take a 24-23 lead on a kill from Rang. The Bulldogs came right back to even things at 24 on a kill from Hope Schjenken. UMSL regained the lead as
Hailey Flowers knocked home a kill but UMD answered again with a kill from Sydney Lanoue to even the set backup. The Tritons got back-to-back kills from Rang and
Caitlin Bishop to take the second set 27-25 and even the match at a set apiece.
UMSL used a 14-5 run midway through the middle stanza to turn an 11-7 deficit into a 21-16 lead after an ace serve from
Kylie Adams. The Bulldogs countered with four straight points to cut the Triton lead to 21-20 but UMSL closed out the strong by scoring the final four points to win 25-20 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
UMD stormed out to an early 5-1 lead in set four but UMSL was able to come back and tie it at nine. The Bulldogs then scored 10 of the next 15 points to build a five-point lead. The Tritons rallied once again closing to 22-21 after a kill from Rang but weren't able to get any closer as UMD scored the final three points of the stanza to win 25-21 and force a deciding fifth set.
The Bulldogs scored the first six points of the final frame but UMSL chipped away and came back to tie the frame at 13 on an ace serve from Bishop. The Tritons were unable to take the lead as UMD scored the final two points to win the set 15-13.
UMSL hit .218 for the contest with 60 kills against 20 errors in 170 chances. Rang led thee Tritons in double figures with a career-high 21 kills while
Charlotte Richards added 13 kills, 13 digs and eight aces and Copeland added 10 kills. Bishop had 48 digs and Adams added 15 digs.
The Bulldogs hit .297 for the match with 75 kills against 23 errors in 175 swings. Lanoue led five UMD players in double figures with 18 kills. Madison Gordon had a match-high 66 assists while Kaylyn Madison had a match-high 23 digs.
Missouri-St. Louis 3 Minnesota State 0
In UMSL's second match of the day the opening frame was knotted at 14 when the Tritons went on a 6-2 run to grab a 20-16 lead. The Mavericks (1-5) battled back to within 21-19 after a kill from Emma Loveall but UMSL wouldn't let them get any closer as it scored four of the final six points to win the opening set 25-21.
The Tritons held an 8-7 lead in the middle stanza and then dominated the rest of the set as they closed the frame on a 17-5 run to win 25-12. UMSL's defense held the Mavericks to a negative .094 hitting percentage and had four blocks.
The Tritons trailed for a majority of the set and were down 22-20 before ending the stanza with a flurry by scoring the final five points of the match. Richards had a pair of kills in that run and Adams served back-to-back aces to complete the sweep.
UMSL hit .182 in the match with 35 kills against 17 errors in 99 swings. Rang led the way with 11 kills while Richards and
Hailey Flowers had eight kills apiece. Bishop handed out 18 assists and Adams finished with 16 digs.
Minnesota State was held to a .105 attack percentage with 32 kills against 21 errors in 105 attempts. Sophie Tietz led the Mavericks with nine kills. Makayla Snow had a match-high 20 assists while Maci Higgins finished with 10 digs.
The Tritons play their final two matches at the UIndy Invitational on Saturday. UMSL will take on Ashland at 11 a.m. (CDT) and Ohio Dominican at 5 p.m. (CDT).
