CEDARVILLE, Ohio – The No. 24 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball bounced back from a tough 3-2 loss to Cedarville in its season opener with a 3-2 upset of top ranked Concordia-St. Paul in its second match of the day on Friday at the Cedarville Invite in Cedarville, Ohio.
Match 2: No. 24 UMSL 3 No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul 2
The Tritons (1-1) dominated the opening set as it led by as many as 13 points while hitting .520 in the frame with 14 kills against one error in 25 attempts.
Alayna Santel led the way with seven kills while
Addison Voorhees added three more.
UMSL had a five-point lead in set two but the Golden Bears (1-1) rallied to win the set 26-24 to even the match at a set apiece.
Bridget Cassady and Voorhees combined for 12 kills in the stanza.
The Tritons trailed 11-10 in the middle frame before going on an 8-0 run to take control. Voorhees had three kills in the deciding run while Santel and
Brooklyn Young had one each. CSP made a late run to cut the lead to four but UMSL closed out the set scoring five of the final five points.
The Tritons trailed by as many as seven in the fourth stanza before making a late rally to get within 19-18 after a kill from Cassady. However, that would be as close is they got as the Golden Bears scored seven of the last eight points to force a fifth set.
The final set was all Tritons as they jumped out to the early lead and wouldn't look back. They led by as many as eight in the frame as they hit .389 with nine kills against two errors in 18 attempts. Cassady, Santel and Voorhees combined for eight kills in the stanza.
UMSL finished the match hitting .264 with 62 kills against 20 errors in 159 attempts and was led by Santel with a match-high 19 kills while Voorhees and Cassady had 16 kills apiece.
Marly Burbach had 52 assists and five aces,
Skylar Weaver had 19 digs and Young finished with six blocks.
Concordia-St. Paul hit .194 in the contest with 59 kills against 25 errors in 175 attempts and was led by Mehlayna Straub with 14 kills. Audrey Waterman added 49 assists and Makenna Nold finished with a match-high 22 digs.
Match 1: Cedearvile 3 No. 24 UMSL 2
The Tritons opened strong with a 25-21 win in the opening set as they were paced offensively by Cassady and Santel who combined for 10 of the team's 13 kills in the stanza.
UMSL trailed 24-19 in the second set before running off six points in a row to take a 25-24 lead. Santel had three kills in that run. The Tritons had two chances to close out the set but Cedarville scored four of the last five points to even the match at a set apiece.
UMSL trailed 14-12 in the swing set before going on a 6-0 run to seize a four-point advantage. Cassady and Santel combined for four kills in the run. The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to 23-22 but wouldn't get any closer as Santel and Cassady closed out the set with kills.
Cedarville hit .400 in set four recording 15 kills against three errors in 30 attempts while holding the Tritons to a .077 hitting percentage. The frame was tied at 11 when the Yellow Jackets made their run scoring six of the next seven points to build a five-point lead. UMSL cut the margin to 23-19 but wouldn't get any closer as Cedarville got back-to-back blocks from Sidney Shepherd and Madelyn Hensley to win 25-19 and force the winner take all fifth set.
The Tritons jumped out to a three-point lead midway through the final stanza but the Yellow Jackets rallied to tie it. UMSL regained the lead with a kill from Cassady and led 10-8 but Cedarville ran off four of the next five points to take a 12-11 lead. The Tritons tied it on four separate occasions to extend the match but the Yellow Jackets scored the final two points to win the set 17-15 to complete the comeback.
UMSL finished the match hitting .189 with 68 kills against 35 errors in 175 attempts and was led by Cassady with a career-high 27 kills while Santel added 20 kills. Burbach handed out a career-high 58 assists while Weaver had a match-high 22 digs.
Cedarville hit .268 in the contest recording 62 kills against 18 errors in 164 attempts. It was led by Allie Pilat with 21 kills while Shepherd had 48 assists and Alivia Rutt finished with 15 digs.
The Tritons conclude play in the Cedarville Invitational on Saturday against No. 23 Gannon starting at 10 a.m. (CDT).
