ST. LOUIS – The old saying goes that one is nice but two is even better. That's the feeling the fourth ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team is feeling after defeating No. 21 Ferris State 3-1 on Saturday night at the Mark Twain Building to win its second straight Midwest Region title.
The Tritons are the first team since Grand Valley State in 2007 and 2008 to win back-to-back Midwest Region crowns and the first number one seed to win the Midwest Region title since Indianapolis won it on its home floor in 2012.
The Tritons improve to 33-1 and advance to the national quarterfinals in Moon Township, Pa. beginning next Thursday at the UPMC Events Center on the campus of Robert Morris University.
The Bulldogs (27-8) came out of the gates strong scoring four of the first five points but UMSL shook off the slow start thanks to an 11-5 run to take a 12-9 lead. FSU cut the deficit to two but wouldn't get any closer the remainder of the stanza as the Tritons scored five of the next seven points to build a five-point lead and eventually led by as many as six before taking the 25-20 set win.
UMSL hit .256 in the stanza with 15 kills and was led by
Lexie Rang with seven kills while
Hailey Flowers,
Hannah Copeland, and
Delaney Humm had two kills each.
The Tritons led by two early in the second frame but were unable to overcome a 13-4 run by Ferris that gave it an 18-11 lead. UMSL fought back to within three at 19-16 after a kill from Humm but wouldn't get any closer as the Bulldogs closed out the set scoring six of the final nine points to win 25-19 and even the set at a match apiece.
The swing set was the tightest of the match with 11 ties and seven lead changes. FSU led 14-13 after Olivia Henneman-Dallape blocked
Mya Elliott. The Tritons responded scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 20-15 lead on a block from Copeland of Emily May to seize control. The Bulldogs got as close as three but no closer as UMSL scored five of the final eight points to win 25-20.
The final set was tight early before UMSL went on a 6-1 run to take a lead it wouldn't relinquish at 11-7 behind four kills from Humm. Ferris State wouldn't go without a fight though closing to within 14-12 after Henneman-Dallape and May blocked Rang. It wouldn't be enough as the Tritons scored seven of the next nine points to grab a 21-14 lead after a kill from Copeland. Copeland had three kills in the match deciding run. On a night where she recorded her 1,000th career kill, Rang ended the match in style with three straight kills.
UMSL hit .255 in the contest with 65 kills against 23 errors in 165 attempts and were led by Rang who finished with a match-high 23 kills to along with 12 digs. Humm added 17 kills, 13 in the final two sets, while Flowers and Copeland finished with nine kills each.
Caitlin Bishop handed out 56 assists and
Kylie Adams had a match-high 25 digs.
Rang, Humm, Bishop and Adams were named to the Midwest Region All-Tournament team.
The Bulldogs finished with an attack percentage of .222 recording 51 kills against 15 errors in 162 chances. Henneman-Dallape led the way with 13 kills, 14 digs and six blocks while Syann Fairfield finished with 12 kills. Kaylee Maat had 47 assists and Leah Bylut finished with 17 digs. Henneman-Dallape, Bylut and Maat were named to the Midwest Region All-Tournament team.
The Tritons will find out on Sunday their opponent and match time for next Thursday.
Complete Midwest Region All-Tournament Team
Alli Wiese, Hillsdale
Maureen Reilly, Rockhurst
Sarah Pyle, Rockhurst
Sarah Wight, Grand Valley State
Jordyn Gates, Grand Valley State
Olivia Henneman-Dallape, Ferris State
Kaylee Maat, Ferris State
Leah Bylut, Ferris State
Kylie Adams, UMSL
Caitlin Bishop, UMSL
Delaney Humm, UMSL
Lexie Rang, UMSL
