JACKSON, Tenn. – The sixth ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team opened its season with two wins in the Union Volleyball Classic at the Fred DeLay Gymnasium on Friday in Jackson, Tenn. The Tritons held off a late comeback to win its season opener over Carson-Newman 3-2 and then wrapped up the day with a sweep of host Union.

No. 6 Missouri-St. Louis 3 Carson-Newman 2
UMSL (2-0) jumped out to the early lead in its opening match taking the first two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-20. The Tritons hit .211 in the first two stanzas and held the Eagles (1-1) to just a .189 attack percentage.

CNU extended the match winning the next two sets 25-20 and 26-24 as its offense got going hitting .316 in the third set and then overcame a four-point deficit in set four closing the frame on a 10-4 run to force the fifth and deciding set.

The Eagles raced out to a 6-1 lead in the finale but UMSL fought back using a 10-4 run to take an 11-10 lead after an attack error from Taylor Keeran. CNU retook the lead thanks to back-to-back kills from Emerson Ahsmuhs and Annie Dziczkowski.

The Tritons evened things at 12 after a kill from Hannah Copeland but the Eagles scored back-to-back points to reach match point. UMSL was down four match points but a service error and a solo block by Brooklyn Young tied the match at 14. Copeland gave the Tritons the lead for good with a kill and then Trysta Foster sealed the win with an ace.

UMSL hit .241 for the contest with 53 kills against 18 errors in 145 attempts. Alayna Santel led the way for the Tritons with a career-high 17 kills while Copeland added 12 kills and Iyannah Jackson and Addison Voorhees had nine kills each. Caitlin Bishop had 51 set assists and Skylar Weaver added a career-high 19 digs.

Carson-Newman recorded 66 kills in the contest but committed 30 attack errors in 173 swings. It was led by Dziczkowski with 17 kills while Ahsmuhs had 15 and Taylor Adams added 11 kills and Maddie Hurst finished with 10 kills. Blair Cherry had 49 assists and Blake Cherry finished with 17 digs.

No. 6 Missouri-St. Louis 3 Union 0
The Tritons got off to a slow start in the night cap trailing by five in the opening set but after that it was all UMSL as it outscored the Bulldogs 21-5 the remainder of the frame to win the opening 25-14.

The middle stanza was tied at 15 after Santel was blocked by Marie Torosian. The Tritons closed the set scoring 10 of the final 12 points to win the frame 25-17. Young and Jackson had two kills apiece in the set deciding run while Rylee Edson ended the stanza with back-to-back aces.

UMSL opened the third set on a 6-0 run but Union (0-2) battled back to within 10-7 after a block by Vanja Stefanovic on Voorhees. The Tritons pulled away thanks to an 11-3 run and wouldn't look back on their way to the 25-14 victory.

UMSL hit .435 in the nightcap with 50 kills against 10 errors in 92 chances. Santel led the way with 13 kills while Young and Copeland added 12 kills each. Bishop had a double-double with 43 assists and 12 assists to go along with three aces.

Union hit .149 for the contest recording 23 kills against 10 errors in 87 chances. Torosian led the Bulldogs with six kills and 11 digs while Abby Davis had 12 assists.

The Tritons are back in action on Saturday taking on Harding at 10 a.m. and Limestone at 2 p.m. on the final day of the Union Volleyball Classic.