HAMMOND, Ind. – The No. 11 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team dropped a Top 15 contest to No. 15 Grand Valley State 3-1 in the Midwest Region Crossover on Saturday at the Hammond Sportsplex in Hammond, Ind. The Tritons drop to 15-3 while the Lakers improve to 18-1.
UMSL never trailed in the opening set as it scored the first six points of the match and led by as many as nine at 18-9 after a kill from
Brooklyn Young. GVSU made a late run pulling to within 24-20 after an ace serve from Julia Blaney before the Tritons closed the set with a kill from
Hannah Copeland to win 25-20. Copeland led the way for UMSL in that first set with five kills.
The Lakers flipped the script in set two jumping out to an early five-point advantage and wouldn't trail on their way to a 25-14 win to even the match at a set apiece. GVSU hit .344 in the second stanza and was led by Paige Sanders with four kills while Meghan O'Sullivan, Jordyn Gates and Kate Goudreau had three kills each.
The Lakers jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the swing set but the Tritons rallied to take a 14-11 lead after an ace serve from
Caitlin Bishop. Grand Valley scored three straight points to even the set at 14 all but UMSL countered with four in a row of its own to grab an 18-14 lead after an ace from
Trysta Foster. However, the Tritons were unable to close out the set as the Lakers closed the set on an 11-2 run to win 25-20 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
UMSL jumped out to an early five-point lead in set four but a 7-0 run from the Lakers gave them a 14-12 lead midway through the frame. The Tritons countered with four in a row to retake the lead at 16-14 after a kill from
Addison Voorhees. UMSL couldn't keep the momentum as GVSU scored five of the next six points to take a 19-17 lead on a kill from Brianna Stawski.
The Tritons fought back getting back-to-back kills from Copeland to even things at 19 but were unable to retake the lead as the Lakers scored the final six points to win 25-19.
UMSL was held to a season low .127 hitting percentage with 44 kills against 26 errors in 142 attempts.
Alayna Santel and Copeland led the way finishing with 13 and 11 kills respectively. Bishop had 38 assists, Copeland, Voorhees and
Iyannah Jackson had three blocks each while
Skylar Weaver had 17 digs.
Grand Valley hit .233 in the match with 52 kills against 21 errors in 133 chances. It was led by O'Sullivan and Jordyn Gates with 12 kills apiece while Sanders and Goudreau had 10 kills each. Gates finished with a triple-double in the contest with 27 assists and 14 digs to go along with her 12 kills.
The Tritons are back in action on Friday (Oct. 25) as they take on crosstown rival Maryville at 6 p.m. at Moloney Arena.
