Topeka, Kan. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team snapped its four-match losing streak with a pair of wins at the Washburn Ichabod Classic on Friday at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan. The Tritons (4-5) reverse swept fourth ranked Washburn 3-2 in its first match then defeated Southwestern Oklahoma 3-1 in the nightcap.
Match 1: UMSL 3, No. 4 Washburn 2
UMSL fell behind 7-3 to begin the match before rallying to take an 11-10 lead after a kill from
Alayna Santel. The Ichabods (9-1) countered with a 6-0 run to take the lead for good and the Tritons wouldn't get closer than four points the rest of the frame as Washburn pulled away for the 25-17 victory.
UMSL flipped the scripts in the second set as it jumped out to an early lead in a back-and-forth frame but a late run by the Bods gave them a 25-21 win and a commanding 2-0 lead.
The middle stanza was tied at eight when the Tritons began to make a run scoring three points in a row to grab an 11-8 lead. UMSL continued to hold that three-point advantage only to see Washburn rally to tie the set at 22 on a kill from Emma Siron. The Tritons took advantage of two service errors to get to set point at 24-23 and then won it after an attack error by Brynne Topolski.
The fourth set was tied at six when UMSL pulled away thanks to a 10-1 run as Santel had four kills in that run. The Tritons didn't let the foot off the gas as it led by as many as 15 points in the frame to force the fifth and deciding set. UMSL hit .467 with 15 kills against an error in 30 swings and were led by Santel with six kills while
Maggie Johnson added five more.
The Tritons carried that momentum into the final set as they never trailed and led by as many as nine to complete the comeback. UMSL hit .500 in the finale with nine kills against no errors in 18 swings and was led by Johnson with four kills.
The Tritons hit .262 for the contest with 62 kills against 17 errors in 172 attempts and was led by Johnson who finished with a career-high 25 kills. Santel and
Bridget Cassady added 16 kills and 15 kills respectively.
Marly Burbach had 50 assists to go along with 10 digs, three aces, a kill and a block.
Skylar Weaver had a season-high 29 digs.
Match 2: UMSL 3, SWOSU 1
UMSL's second match of the day was back-and-forth early before the Tritons began to pull away thanks to an 8-4 run. The Bulldogs (7-4) countered with a 4-1 run to cut the margin to 11-10 but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL pulled away with another long run to take the opener 25-19.
The second stanza was tight until about the midway point when the Tritons used an 8-2 run to build a seven-point cushion and wouldn't look back on its way to a 25-17 victory. Santel led the way with five kills in the frame while
Brooklyn Young added three more.
Southwestern Oklahoma State didn't go quietly as it .538 with 16 kills against two errors in 26 attempts and was led by Jenna Houk with five kills while Layla Collins added four more kills.
UMSL snuffed out any chance of a reverse sweep by the Bulldogs by jumping out to a 7-3 lead and wouldn't look back as it won 25-16 to secure the victory. Cassady led the way with five kills while Santel added four and Young finished with three.
The Tritons hit .212 in the match recording 53 kills against 22 errors in 146 attempts and was led by Santel with 15 kills while Cassady added 14 kills and Johnson finished with 11 kills. Burbach added 42 assists, eight digs and two kills and Weaver finished with 15 digs.
UMSL plays Arkansas-Monticello in its final match of the Ichabod Classic on Saturday (Sept. 12) at 12:30 p.m. at Lee Arena in Topeka, Kan.
