ST. LOUIS – The fifth ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team swept past No. 25 Rockhurst in a Top 25 showdown on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 14-0, 2-0 GLVC while the Hawks drop to 10-2, 1-1 GLVC.

Rockhurst scored the first two points of the contest before UMSL went on a 10-1 run turning the early deficit into a seven-point lead after a kill from Lexie Rang. That lead grew to as many as 11 later in the set after back-to-back kills from Rang and Hailey Flowers. The Hawks got to within 22-16 but no closer as the Tritons scored the final three points to take the opener 25-16.

UMSL hit .333 in the stanza with 15 kills against three errors in 36 chances and were led by Mya Elliott with six kills. The Triton defense held Rockhurst to a .100 attack percentage in the frame.

The Hawks jumped out to another early lead in the middle set scoring three of the first four points but UMSL countered and held a 10-9 lead after a kill from Hannah Copeland. Rockhurst took its final lead of the frame after a kill from Sarah Pyle and a block by Tera Reberry. The Tritons ran off five straight points to retake the lead and wouldn't let the Hawks get closer than three points the rest of the frame as it pulled away for a 25-18 victory.

UMSL hit nearly .400 in the frame with 17 kills against six errors in 28 attempts. Delaney Humm had six of those kills while Elliott, Copeland and Rang had three each.
The Tritons jumped out to an early three-point lead in the final stanza but the Hawks battled back tying it at seven after Sydney Raszler and Sydney McDonald teamed up to block Humm. UMSL took the lead for good scoring six of the next seven points to build a five-point lead and wouldn't let Rockhurst get closer than two points the rest of the match as the Tritons pulled away for the 25-16 victory.

UMSL hit .340 for the match recording 47 kills against 12 errors in 103 chances and was led by Humm with 11 kills while Elliott and Rang added 10 kills each. Caitlin Bishop handed out 41 assists, Elliott, Copeland and Flowers had two blocks apiece and Kylie Adams had a match-high 19 digs.

The Triton defense held the Hawks to a .141 attack percentage with 31 kills against 17 errors in 99 chances. Lexi Theis led Rockhurst with eight kills while Sarah Pyle finished with seven kills. Molly Trachta had 14 assists and Maureen Reilly finished with 11 digs.

UMSL wraps up its three-match homestand next Saturday hosting McKendree at 3 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.