FHSU Athletics
Fort Hays State volleyball split its two matches on Saturday (Sept. 6) at the Henderson State Classic in Arkadelphia, Ark. The Tigers fell in five sets to Union University (Tenn.) to open the day, but immediately bounced back to knock off tournament host Henderson State in straight sets. Fort Hays State finished 3-1 overall at the tournament after a pair of wins on Friday.
Union 3, Fort Hays State 2
A lack of defense early led to Fort Hays State (2-1) struggling to its first loss of the season against Union (1-2). Though the offense was running on all cylinders in the first set, it sputtered in sets two and three, while Union kept its offensive efficiency up through the first three sets. That resulted in a 2-1 lead for Union in the match.
Fort Hays State took the opening set 25-20, swinging an extremely hot .429 as a team. That was a good thing, considering Union was impressive as well on the attack at .323. But, that rate would not continue for the Tigers, as they struggled to hitting percentages of .195 in the second set and .077 in the third. Meanwhile, Union hit .293 in the second and .229 in the third to take the sets by scores of 26-24 and 25-19.
Fort Hays State got the offense clicking once again in the fourth and defended well, which resulted in a 25-15 blowout to even the match 2-2. However, the Tigers showed inconsistency again with six hitting errors (four unforced) and a couple of ball handling errors in the fifth, while Union went errorless on the attack. Union took the final set 15-10.
The Tigers put down more kills than Union, 66 to 57, but had 10 more hitting errors, 29 to 19. Mallory Flagor led FHSU in kills with 19, swinging .326 for the match, and Taylor Mares added 17 kills. Rebekah Spainhour reached double figures in kills with 13, while Haley Corkill had a double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs. Kristin Conor and Libby Ary split assists nearly down the middle, Conor with 24 and Ary with 23. Ary added 12 digs for a double-double. Keanu Bradley racked up a team-high 32 digs.
Deja Moorer led Union with 14 kills, Lydia Wright had 45 assists, and Elise Seufert had 27 digs.
Fort Hays State 3, Henderson State 0
The Tigers responded well to their first loss of the season immediately by knocking off the tournament host Henderson State in straight sets. The Tigers hit .266 as a team for the match, while holding Henderson State (0-3) to .140. FHSU (3-1) won by set scores of 25-15, 25-17, and 25-20.
Tied 5-5 in the first set, the Tigers went on an 8-1 run to seize control and cruise in the first set. Taylor Mares had the hot hand with five kills in the set.
The second set was similar as the Tigers went on a 7-1 run after the score was tied 2-2 early, building a six-point lead. Henderson State cut the lead back to three at 9-6, but FHSU opened it back up and cruised the remainder of the set. Teresa Wade had four kills in the second set.
The Tigers had a rash of attacking errors early in the third set, which caused them to trail by four several times, the latest at 12-8. But the offense started to click and Keanu Bradley helped the Tigers run off six straight points with three service aces as FHSU blew past Henderson State for a 17-14 lead. The Tigers would not look back from that point on, taking the set by five points. Rightside hitters Mallory Flagor and Mares were the offensive catalysts in the third, Flagor with six kills and Mares with five.
Mares finished the match with a team-best 12 kills, while Flagor added 11. Mares hit .400 for the match and Flagor hit .450. Rebekah Spainhour was also efficient in the middle at .438 on nine kills. Libby Ary had 22 assists, while Kristin Conor added 13 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. Keanu Bradley led FHSU in digs with 11 and service aces with four.
Fort Hays State heads to Sioux Falls, S.D., next week for the NSIC/MIAA Crossover Tournament. The Tigers face four NSIC teams at the tournament, which includes Minnesota State-Moorhead, Sioux Falls, Augustana, and Bemidji State.