The early season struggles continued for Fort Hays State University volleyball on Tuesday night, as the Tigers dropped a 3-0 (25-18, 25-8, 25-16) contest to No. 5 Nebraska-Kearney on the road.
FHSU (0-6, 0-1 MIAA) had 18 attack errors and a .067 hitting percentage in the match, dooming them against a Lopers’ (9-1, 1-0 MIAA) team that hit .351.
While the attack errors played a part in the match, FHSU struggled to combat a forceful offensive showing from UNK, particularly by Ashley Leitner (11 kills, .611 hitting percentage).
Jenna Ulrich hit .417 with six kills and two blocks for the Tigers, followed closely in kills by Madison Schwartz’s five. Libby Ary’s 12 assists led the team, while Kelsey Broadwell added 10 of her own.
Defensively, Schwartz and Flagor teamed with Ulrich on separate block assists, and Weinman’s 10 digs were a team-high.
In the first set, with the score tied 9-9, UNK used a kill by Ellie Pesavento to take a one-point lead, and would not relinquish it the remainder of the game, though a Spainhour kill would put the Tigers back in the mix, down 11-10. From there, however, UNK would use two separate 3-0 and 4-0 runs to pull ahead, 20-14. Still, the Tigers would not go away, clawing their way back to a four-point deficit, 22-18. The Lopers, though, took advantage of an FHSU service error and two kills by Leitner to close out the set.
FHSU took a 1-0 lead in the second set, but would not score again until a UNK service error stopped a nine-point rally for the Lopers at 9-2. At that point, UNK rattled off another six unanswered points to put the score at 15-3, and FHSU would be outscored 10-5 over the remainder of the set, dropping behind two games with a 25-8 defeat.
After intermission, UNK jumped out to a 4-0 lead, though FHSU would pull within two on two different occasions: 7-5 and 8-6. That, however, would be the closest the Tigers would come in the set, as the Lopers started a 9-1 run, including separate streaks of five and four unanswered points. With the score sitting at 17-8, UNK scored another quick four points, only to be answered by a 5-0 run by the Tigers that included a kill by Haley Corkill. FHSU, though, could not pull off the comeback, and lost the set, 25-16.
The Tigers will play their home opener on Friday, Sept. 20, in a 6 p.m. game with Central Oklahoma. The home stand continues on Saturday, when Pittsburg State travels to Gross Memorial Coliseum for a 2 p.m. matchup.
— FHSU Sports Information —