ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team swept past Illinois Springfield in its home opener on Friday evening at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 10-4, 3-0 GLVC while the Prairie Stars drop to 6-7, 0-3 GLVC.
UIS jumped out of the gates quickly taking an early 5-2 advantage but it wouldn't last long as UMSL scored 14 straight points to build an 11-point lead after a kill from
Iyannah Jackson. The Prairie Stars silenced the run momentarily after a kill from Kaitlyn Taylor but the Tritons ran off another seven in a row to build a 23-6 lead after a kill from
Bridget Cassady.
After a service error, UMSL closed out the set with a kill from Jackson and then Jackson and
Caitlin Bishop stuffed Makenna Cox for the victory.
The Tritons used another lengthy run in the middle stanza outscoring UIS 10-3 to take a 13-6 lead after a kill from
Maggie Johnson. The Prairie Stars cut the deficit to five but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL finished the set scoring 12 of the final 19 points for the 25-15 victory.
The Tritons jumped out to an early four-point lead to start the final frame and wouldn't look back as it led by as many as six at 13-7 after a kill from Johnson. UIS wouldn't go quietly making a late run to pull within 19-16 after an ace from Tuana Yuce but UMSL ended the match on a 6-3 run to complete the sweep with a 25-19 win.
The Tritons hit .352 for the match with 49 kills against 12 errors in 105 attempts.
Alayna Santel led the offensive attack with 13 kills while Johnson finished with 10 and
Hannah Copeland added nine. Bishop finished with 42 assists;
Lydia Hartman had a career-high 15 digs and Jackson chipped in with three blocks.
UMSL's defense held the Stars to a .096 attack percentage with 23 kills against 14 errors in 94 chances. Cox led UIS with seven kills while Erica Sledge had six kills. Sledge also added 14 assists and seven digs.
The Tritons continue their homestand on Saturday hosting Quincy at 3 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building for Alumni Day. The Hawks defeated McKendree in straight sets on Friday.
