St. Louis – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight and remained unbeaten in Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a 3-1 win over Truman State on Friday evening at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improve to 10-5, 5-0 GLVC while the Bulldogs drop to 6-9, 2-3 GLVC.
UMSL opened the match on a 9-3 run as
Bridget Cassady had three kills while
Brooklyn Young and
Alayna Santel added two kills each. Truman battled back tying the stanza at 16 after back-to-back aces from Tori Creason. However, the Bulldogs were unable to take the lead as the Tritons scored four points in a row to regain momentum.
Truman continued fighting going on a 5-1 run to tie the set at 21 after a kill from Hannah Hosty. UMSL retook the lead with three straight points highlighted by a kill from Santel. The Bulldogs fought off the first set point but not a second as Santel finished the set with her fourth kill giving the Tritons the 25-21 set victory.
Set two belonged to Truman as it served and passed well in the frame with four aces and 13 kills. Its serving and passing kept UMSL off balance all set as the Bulldogs led by as many as 12 points at 19-7. The Tritons made a late run pulling to within 23-19 before Truman closed out the set with back-to-back points to win 25-19 and even the match at a set apiece.
UMSL regrouped during the break and came out firing in set three led by
Maggie Johnson who had six kills in the frame. The Tritons never trailed in the frame and led by as many as nine points. The Bulldogs made a late run but it wasn't enough as UMSL won the stanza 25-19. It hit .244 in the frame with 15 kills against four errors in 45 chances. Johnson and Cassady combined for 10 kills in the set.
The fourth frame was back-and-forth with five ties and two lead changes. Truman jumped out to an early three-point lead but UMSL rallied to take an 11-9 lead after a kill from Santel. The Tritons stretched its lead to as many as seven at 20-13 but the Bulldogs didn't go quietly countering with a 5-2 run to pull within 22-18. They fought off one match point but not a second as Cassady ended the match with her 18th kill.
UMSL hit .301 for the contest with 63 kills against 14 errors in 163 attempts and were led by Johnson and Cassady with 18 kills apiece.
Marly Burbach added 57 assists while
Mady Gant had seven kills and nine total blocks and
Sklyar Weaver finished with 26 digs.
Truman State had a .172 attack percentage with 52 kills against 21 errors in 180 attempts and were led by Laci Neece with 18 kills. Creason added 41 kills while Addy Janssen finished with a match-high 29 digs.
The Tritons wrap-up their homestand on Saturday hosting Upper Iowa at 1 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
