ST. LOUIS – The fifth ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team picked up two more wins on Saturday equaling its best start in school history at 12-0 on the final day of the McKendree Invitational. The Tritons swept Illinois Springfield and then defeated McKendree in straight sets in a hard-fought contest.
No. 5 Missouri-St. Louis 3 Illinois Springfield 0
UMSL went on a 15-4 midway through set two extending its lead to 22-10 after a kill from
Lexie Rang. The Tritons won the frame 25-13 as they hit .241 and were led by Rang and
Delaney Humm with three kills each while
Hannah Copeland and
Mya Elliott had two kills apiece.
UMSL never trailed in the middle stanza racing out to an 8-1 lead and never let UIS get closer than five points the rest of the frame on its way to the 25-15 victory. The Tritons had a balanced attack in the set hitting .400 and had five players with at least three kills led by Rang with four.
UMSL closed the match on an 11-3 run to win the final set 25-16. Humm had seven of the team's 16 kills in the frame.
The Tritons hit .317 for the contest with 43 kills against 10 errors in 104 chances. They were led by Humm with a match-high 13 kills while Rang added 11 and Elliott finished with eight kills and five blocks.
Caitlin Bishop had 37 assists and
Kylie Adams finished with a match-high 22 digs.
The UMSL defense held the Prairie Star attack to .053 hitting percentage and a total of 26 kills. Maria Spengler and Eirini Glynou led UIS with seven kills each. Erica Sledge had 21 and Amanda McConnell added 11 digs.
No. 5 Missouri-St. Louis 3 McKendree 0
In its final match of the weekend UMSL jumped out to a 10-2 lead against the host Bearcats (7-4) but McKendree closed to within 16-14 after a kill from Colleen Preusser. The Tritons countered scoring eight of the next 12 points to stretch its lead to six and wouldn't let the Bearcats get any closer as it won the set 25-19.
The second set was the tightest of the three featuring 17 ties and eight lead changes. McKendree jumped out to an early four-point lead but UMSL fought back taking a 20-17 lead late in the frame after an error by Claire Diercks. The Tritons reached set point first at 24-22 after a kill from Humm but the Bearcats wouldn't go away scoring three straight points and had a chance to even the match at a set apiece after Preusser and Lauren McCurley blocked Rang.
The two sides kept going back and forth with the Bearcats regaining the lead at 29-28 after a kill from Destiny Gray and had another chance to close the set out but UMSL ran off the final three points to win the set 31-29 on an ace serve from Adams.
The Tritons led by as many as five late in set three but McKendree clawed back to within two at 20-18 after an ace serve from Preusser. The Tritons regrouped and finished the match strong scoring five of the final six points to take the set 25-19 and complete the sweep.
UMSL hit .226 in the match registering 47 kills against 16 errors in 137 swings and was led by Rang who finished with a double-double with 15 kills and 13 digs. Humm added 13 kills while Elliott finished with seven kills. Bishop handed out 41 assists and Adams had 15 digs and four aces.
The Bearcats finished the contest hitting .206 with 41 kills against 14 errors in 131 chances. Preusser hit .417 for the contest with 15 kills while Emma Mcllhargie finished with nine kills. Amber Williams distributed 32 assists and Keely Davis had 16 digs.
The Tritons host William Jewell in their home opener next Friday (Sept. 22) at 6 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
