ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team split its two matches on Friday in the Nebraska-Kearney Rosella Meier Fall Classic at the UNK Health and Sports Center in Kearney, Neb. The Tritons defeated South Dakota School of Mines 3-2 (19-25, 25-17, 27-25, 24-26, 15-11) in their first match of the day before dropping the nightcap in straight sets to No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney (12-25, 27-29, 23-25).
Match 1 – UMSL 3 South Dakota School of Mines 2
UMSL (4-2) dropped the opening set against the Hardrockers (0-6) as SDSM overcame a three-point deficit thanks to an 13-4 run to close the frame to win the stanza 25-19.
The Tritons dominated the second frame racing out to a 15-4 lead and wouldn't look back on their way to a 25-17 win to even the match at a set apiece.
UMSL led by three late in the swing set only to see the Hardrockers rally to take a 24-23 lead to get to set point first. The Tritons were able to extend the match thanks to two service errors then got an ace from
Lydia Hartman and a kill from
Alayna Santel to win the pivotal set 27-25.
UMSL held a five-point lead in set four but couldn't close it out as Mines rallied to take a 24-23 lead. The Tritons fought off a set point as Santel terminated a ball but the Hardrockers scored the next two points to win the set 26-24 and force a winner take-all fifth frame.
UMSL fell behind 2-0 to start the final stanza but scored eight straight points to seize control. Mines wouldn't go quietly closing to within 13-11 after an ace serve from Kiera Walsh but the Tritons held on as a Walsh service error set up match point and then
Hannah Copeland and
Brooklyn Young stuffed Grace Mak to end the match.
UMSL was held to a .181 hitting percentage with 68 kills against 29 errors in 215 attempts. Santel led the way for the Tritons with 20 kills while
Maggie Johnson added 17 and
Iyannah Jackson added 13.
Caitlin Bishop handed out 54 assists and
Skylar Weaver had a match-high 30 digs.
Match 2 – No. 8 Nebraska-Kearney 3 UMSL 0
In the nightcap the opening set belonged to the Lopers (8-0) as it broke open a tight set with a lengthy run to win it 25-12.
UMSL fought back in set two as it rallied to the frame at 24 on a kill from Santel. The Tritons had a chance to win the set after an attack error from Carly Purdy gave them a 27-26 lead but UNK scored the final three points of the stanza to win 29-27.
The two sides went back-and-forth in the third set as UMSL tried to extend the match but came up short as the Lopers closed it out scoring three of the final four points to win 25-23 and complete the sweep.
After a slow start, UMSL hit .221 over the final two sets to finish with a .186 hitting percentage. It recorded 44 kills against 20 errors in 129 attempts. Santel led three Tritons in double figures with 12 kills while Jackson and Johnson had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Bishop had 33 assists and Weaver finished with 25 digs.
UMSL wraps up play at the Rosella Meier Fall Classic on Saturday taking on Sioux Falls (S.D.) at 10:30 a.m. at Adams State (Colo.) at 2 p.m. at the UNK Health and Science Center.
