TAMPA, Fla. – The No. 17 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team wrapped up play in the Tampa Volleyball Classic with a pair of four-set losses at the Bob Martinez Athletics Center on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. The Tritons fell to Florida Southern 3-1 and host No. 4 Tampa 3-1.
Match 1: FSC 3, No. 17 UMSL 1
UMSL (2-5) jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the opening set against the Moccasins (4-2) but couldn't hold the lead as Florida Southern rallied to take a 15-12 advantage. The Tritons fought back to tie the stanza at 20 on an ace from
Skylar Weaver but UMSL wouldn't score again as the Mocs scored the final five points to win the stanza 25-20.
UMSL never trailed as it led by as many as eight points in the second frame. FSC made a late run to cut the Triton lead to 21-20 but UMSL regrouped scoring four of the final five points to win the set 25-22.
The Tritons fell behind 4-0 to start the swing set before battling back to make it 16-15 after a kill from
Bridget Cassady. However, that would be as close as UMSL got as the Moccasins closed the set on a 9-1 run to take it 25-16.
The Tritons led for a majority of the fourth set and were poised to force a fifth set but a late rally from Florida Southern gave it the 25-22 victory.
UMSL hit just .122 for the contest with 44 kills against 26 errors in 147 attempts and were led by
Alayna Santel with 13 kills while Cassady added eight kills and
Maggie Johnson finished with seven kills.
Marly Burbach had 28 assists and Weaver had 17 digs.
Match 2: No. 4 UT 3, No. 17 UMSL 1
In the nightcap, the Tritons fell behind 5-2 to begin the match before going on a 7-2 run to take a 9-7 lead. The Spartans (6-1) countered with a 6-1 run to retake the lead and wouldn't trail again as they won the frame 25-18.
UMSL bounced back with a strong showing in the second set as it led by as many as eight at 18-10 after a kill from Cassady before holding off a late charge from Tampa as the Tritons won it 25-21.
The final two sets belonged to the Spartans as they combined to hit .392 with 26 kills against four errors in 56 attempts while holding the Tritons to a .005 attack percentage.
UMSL hit .073 for the match with 37 kills against 27 errors in 137 attempts and was led by Johnson with 12 kills while Santel added eight kills. Burbach had 29 assists and Weaver finished with 11 digs.
The Tritons are back in action on Friday (Sept. 11) at the Washburn Ichabod Classic in Topeka, Kan. UMSL will take on the sixth ranked and host Ichabods at 11:30 a.m. and Southwestern Oklahoma State at 7 p.m.
