The Tiger volleyball team pulled out a hard-fought four-set victory over Missouri Western on Tuesday evening in Hays. The key was the Tigers 30-28 victory in the third set to break the 1-1 tie in the match, then went on to win set four 25-21. FHSU moved to 18-6 overall and 4-3 in the MIAA with the win.

Kurt Kohler Postgame Interview
VB Coach 10-9-12

Match Highlights
VB Highlights 10-9-12

Madison Schwartz fueled the FHSU offense in the first set with five kills on 10 attacks with no errors, hitting .500 in the set. Jenna Ulrich, Kylee Hoagland and Sara Hewson all added three kills in the first set. The four combined for a .400 hitting percentage in the opening set in which the Tigers hit .317 as a team.

The Griffons fired back at the Tigers in the second set to even up the match, hitting .297 to just .121 for the Tigers.

The action heated up in the third set as the Tigers pushed out to a six-point lead at 13-7, but the Griffons slowly came back to tied the set at 20-20. The Griffons went on a three-point run after trailing 22-21 to get to set point at 24-22, but the Tigers fought it off with consecutive blocks by Ulrich and Hewson and Ulrich pushed the Tigers on top by one with a kill. FHSU fought off three more set points for the Griffons before ending the set on a three-point run, triggered by a kill from Schwartz.

Schwartz fueled the Tiger offense again in the fourth set with six of her match-high 17 kills, a season high for Schwartz.

Ulrich and Hoagland combined for 30 kills in the match, Ulrich with 16 and Hoagland with 14, as the Tiger middle hitters combined for a .407 hitting percentage. Ulrich hit .448 and Hoagland hit .367.

Setter Kayla Zoglman had a big double-double for the Tigers with 49 assists and a team-high 24 digs.  Makenzie Weinman had 16 digs and Hewson added 12.

Sarah Faubel led the Griffons with 13 kills and Jessie Thorup added 12. The assists were split almost evenly as Stephanie Hattey had 24 and Jordon Chohon had 23. Brooke Cousino led the Griffons in digs with 20.

Fort Hays State turns its focus to Lindenwood on Friday in another key MIAA match. Lindenwood is currently 12-8 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA.

– FHSU Sports Information –