The Fort Hays State volleyball team travelled to Kirksville, Mo. on Saturday evening (Oct. 29) to face Truman. After dropping the first set, the Tigers took the second and third sets and came close to getting the victory in the fifth set before a Bulldog rally put the match away.
Truman won the first set 25-21 after hitting an impressive .367 for the set and just committing four hitting errors. Fort Hays State won the second set 27-25 and the third 29-27 to take the lead of the match. Truman quickly answered by downing the Tigers 25-11 in the fourth to set up the decisive set.
In the fifth set, Fort Hays State jumped out to a 7-3 advantage after a kill by Megan Glandon, who had a season-high 14 kills in the match. Also putting up a season high in kills was Yadira Jacquez, who led the team with 18 on 67 attempts. Truman quickly rallied from the deficit by scoring four straight points to tie the score at 7-7 and force FHSU to call a timeout. The teams then traded points until the match was tied at 13-13. A hitting error by Glandon, which was disputed by head coach Kurt Kohler, gave the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead and led Kohler to call another timeout, but it was not enough to stop the momentum as Truman got an assist block from Emily Briseno and Heather Hargadine to take the set 15-13.
Jacquez and Glandon led the Tigers in kills, and were joined in double figures by Madison Schwartz, who chipped in 10. Fort Hays State stayed in the match despite being outhit by the Bulldogs as well as having fewer kills, blocks and digs. Truman hit significantly better than the Tigers, hitting at .268 compared to .170 for FHSU. Five Tigers reached double figures in digs, led by Tracie Hileman with 22. Jenna Ulrich had another big night at the net, recording six blocks (four solo, two assist) while Kylee Hoagland had five (two solo, three assist).
Truman got a big night from Megan Sharpe and Molly Sinclair, who each had 19 kills. Sharpe hit .516 for the match and had seven blocks, while Sinclair added 14 digs for a double-double. Abby Moser had 27 digs to lead the Bulldogs, who improved to 17-11 on the season and 6-6 in the MIAA.
Fort Hays State drops to 15-13 with the loss and 3-10 in MIAA play coming into the final two weeks of the season. The Tigers host their final two home matches of the season next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 4-5) against Missouri Southern and Southwest Baptist.
– FHSU Sports Information –