ST. LOUIS – The No. 19 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team extended its home winning streak to 25 with a sweep of Upper Iowa on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 17-5, 6-3 GLVC while the Peacocks drop to 10-13, 2-6 GLVC.
UMSL trailed by three early in the contest before going on an 8-1 run to grab an 11-7 lead after an ace serve from
Rylee Edson. The Tritons stretched that lead to 13-8 but Upper Iowa chipped away at the lead closing to within 15-14 after Lydia Imbrogno blocked
Alayna Santel.
UMSL regrouped scoring the next four points to regain its five-point advantage but the Peacocks wouldn't go away pulling to within 20-17 after Zoe Semelroth blocked
Iyannah Jackson. The Tritons closed the set strong scoring the final five points to win the opener 25-17.
The second set was all UMSL as it raced out to a 7-0 lead and led by as many as nine points in the stanza. Upper Iowa got as close as 19-14 but the Tritons scored six of the final seven points to win the stanza 25-17.
The third frame was the tightest of the contest with 14 ties and six lead changes. The Peacocks led by as many as three at 14-11 after a kill from Martha Pace but UMSL countered with a 6-2 run to seize a 17-16 lead after an ace from Jackson.
The Tritons extended their lead to 20-18 but Upper Iowa kept fighting eventually tying the set at 21 after a kill from Semelroth. UMSL ran off three straight points and had three match points to work with. The Peacocks fought off the first after a service from Santel but not a second as Jackson knocked home a kill to end the contest.
The Tritons hit .291 for the match with 44 kills against 14 errors in 103 attempts and were led by
Addison Voorhees with 12 kills. Jackson finished with nine kills,
Hannah Copeland added eight kills and Santel finished with seven kills.
Caitlin Bishop had 35 assists,
Trysta Foster finished with 10 digs and Jackson added four blocks.
Upper Iowa hit .128 for the contest with 31 kills against 19 errors in 94 chances. Semelroth and Kylie Gustafson had seven kills apiece to lead the way. Nicole Pozorski had 23 assists Marissa Becker finished with nine digs.
The Tritons begin their final road trip of the regular season next Friday traveling to Quincy, Ill., to take on the No. 18 Quincy Hawks at 6 p.m. at Pepsi Arena. The Hawks fell in four sets at Rockhurst on Saturday.
