Fort Hays State University dropped its eighth straight game of the season on Saturday, falling 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 26-24) to Pittsburg State at Gross Memorial Coliseum.

FHSU (0-8, 0-3 MIAA) led in every set, but couldn’t put PSU (4-7, 1-2 MIAA) away in the match.

Makenzie Weinman dug out 16 attacks from PSU, while Jenna Ulrich had four blocks for the FHSU defense.  On offense, Mallory Flagor led the team with eight kills, making it 16 kills for the outside hitter in two nights.  Ulrich, who hit .278, and Madison Schwartz (.333 hitting percentage), had seven kills for the Tigers.

Down 9-6 in the first set, FHSU would eventually rally to within one (12-12), and then tie the match at 15-all.  From there, the teams traded points until 21-21, when two kills PSU kills and two FHSU errors would give the Gorillas’ the set, 25-22.

In the second frame, the Tigers jumped out to four point lead (5-1), and remained in control until they led, 10-6.  PSU, though, would run off four straight to tie the match.  With the score at 13-13, PSU used four FHSU errors on a 5-0 run to jump ahead, 18-13.  FHSU would score just twice more in the set, and fall, 25-13.

After intermission, FHSU again showed life on offense, as kills by Schwartz, Rebekah Spainhour and Taylor Mares would propel the team into a 11-6 lead.  They then held a three-point advantage, 13-10, before four unanswered points by PSU had FHSU trailing, 14-13. Sara Hewwon’s kill set up a set point for the Tigers (24-23), but FHSU couldn’t get the decisive point, and in a Win-by-Two situation, the Gorillas would close out the match, 26-24.

The Tigers travel to St. Joseph, Mo., on Tuesday, Sept. 24 for a 7 p.m. conference matchup against Missouri Western.

— FHSU Sports Information —