ST. LOUIS – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team opened its 2025 season with a pair of sweeps over Michigan Tech and Purdue Northwest on Friday at the McKendree Invitational in Lebanon, Ill.

Match 1 – UMSL 3 Michigan Tech 0
The Tritons (2-0) got off to a slow start in the opening set trailing by as many as three early but rallied to tie the set at 15 on a kill from Iyannah Jackson. Reese Baker gave UMSL the lead for good in the frame with an ace sparking a 6-2 run to give the Tritons their biggest lead of the set at 21-17. The Huskies (0-1) cut the deficit to 21-19 but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL scored four of the final six points to win the stanza 25-21.

The Tritons used a 5-1 run early in the second frame turning a 4-3 deficit into an 8-5 lead and wouldn't trail the remainder of the set on their way to a 25-20 set victory. Alayna Santel and Hannah Copeland combined to hit .438 in the stanza and combined for eight kills.

The Tritons jumped out to an early six-point lead in the third stanza but Michigan Tech countered with a 10-3 run to take a 16-15 lead on a kill from Jacqueline Yancy. The lead was short lived as UMSL answered with a 5-1 run to retake the lead and extended it to 20-17. That lead grew to 24-19 but the Huskies wouldn't go quietly pulling to within 24-21 before a Santel kill ended the match.

The Tritons hit .324 in the contest recording 49 kills against 13 errors in 111 attempts and were led by Santel with 16 kills while Copeland and Maggie Johnson finished with 10 kills apiece. Caitlin Bishop had a match-high 43 assists and Skylar Weaver and Lydia Hartman had 11 digs each.

Match 2 – UMSL 3 Purdue Northwest 0
UMSL's second match of the day started out like its first one as it fell behind 5-2 to start before coming back to take the lead for good after four straight attack errors from the Pride (0-1). The Tritons led 20-17 and closed the set scoring five of the final six points to win the set 25-18.

The middle stanza saw UMSL jump out to an early 5-0 lead and it wouldn't look back as it led by as many as 12 in the frame before settling for a 25-16 victory. Santel had four kills in the frame while Johnson contributed three.

Purdue Northwest came out hot to start three as it led 8-3 and was looking to extend the match but the Tritons rallied to take a 17-16 lead after an attack from Arra Cottrell. The two sides then exchanged points and were tied at 20 when the Tritons took control scoring five of the last seven points to complete the sweep with a 25-22 victory.

UMSL hit .270 in the contest with 41 kills against 14 errors in 100 swings and were led by Johnson and Jackson with 10 kills each. Bishop handed out 36 assists while Weaver had a match-high 17 digs.

The Tritons play their final two games of the McKendree Invitational on Saturday taking on Southwestern Oklahoma State at 9 a.m. and will conclude the weekend against Minnesota-Duluth with a match at 4:30 p.m. Both matches will be the Melvin Price Convocation Center.