FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State closed out its weekend with its second and third straight wins, defeating Central Oklahoma (3-1) and Bacone (3-0) on Saturday (Oct. 18) afternoon.

The Tigers (10-12, 4-9 MIAA) return to Gross Memorial Coliseum next weekend for conference games against Southwest Baptist (Friday, Oct. 24) and Pittsburg State (Saturday, Oct. 25).

A complete recap of individual matches is below…

Fort Hays State 3, Central Oklahoma 1

An all-around effort carried FHSU past Central Oklahoma, 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 17-25, 29-27) on Saturday afternoon, in the first game of a triangular in Edmond, Okla.

Close throughout the entire match, FHSU pulled away late in the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead.

Tied 7-7 in the first, FHSU went on a 5-1 run (which included three kills from Teresa Wade) to lead 12-8, but the Bronchos climbed back to tie it, 12-12, soon after.  Later in the set, tied 16-all, a kill from Rebeka Spainhour sparked a four-point burst that gave the Tigers much needed breathing room late in the set.  FHSU stretched the lead to six (24-18) before taking the set, 25-19.

FHSU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but again would have to battle, as the teams traded points until 10-all. Down one (11-10), a kill from Wade started a 5-0 run for FHSU that brought the score to 15-11, giving the Tigers the lead for good in the set.

Nearing set point, the Bronchos cut the deficit to one (23-22), but couldn’t complete the comeback as kills from Mallory Flagor and Taylor Mares sandwiched a UCO point, giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead with a 25-23 set victory.

UCO played well in the third set, never trailing in a 25-17 win.  The Bronchos strung together two 4-0 runs and one 3-0 run in the set, keeping the Tigers at bay to pull within one, 2-1, in the match.

After a slip in the third set, the Tigers needed a win-by-two situation to put the match away, but eventually did, completing a comeback in the fourth set after facing a tying set point (27-26).

In a set that saw 13 tie scores, the largest lead for either team in the set was three (8-5 for UCO and 21-18 for FHSU).  Looking to put the match away, up 24-22, FHSU was forced into a win-by-two situation after allowing two quick points from the Bronchos to tie it, 24-all.

FHSU went up 25-24 and 26-25, but couldn’t complete the win as UCO continued to answer.  At 26-25, two straight for the Bronchos put UCO in the driver’s seat (27-26), forcing an FHSU timeout.  After the reset, a kill from Flagor tied it, 27-all, and back-to-back blocks (an assist by Flagor and Callie Christensen and a solo block by Flagor) sealed the win for the Tigers, 29-27.

Three Tigers hit double digits in kills, led by Taylor Mares’ 13 kills.  Wade had 12 kills, while Mallory Flagor added 11 kills from the right side.  Spainhour neared the 10-kills mark with eight kills.

Callie Christensen, who had six kills, led the team with five blocks (one solo) on the afternoon, contributing the nine total team blocks.  Flagor (one solo) and Mares each had three blocks.

Raegen Vanderplas led the team with 27 assists in the setter role, sharing the rotation with Kristen Conor, who had 22 assists.  Vanderplas’ 10 digs was fourth on the team, behind Wade (13 digs), Kaitlin Bradley (15 digs) and team-leader Keanu Bradley, who had 29 digs.

Fort Hays State 3, Bacone College 0
FHSU grabbed its third sweep of the season with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-16) win over Bacone in the second game of a triangular in Edmond, Okla.

Trailing early, the teams traded points until FHSU grabbed its first lead of the day (5-4).  The Tigers never trailed after that, though BC stayed close.  Up 16-14, a quick four-point burst for FHSU gave the Tigers their largest lead of the night, 20-14, but Bacone rallied late to tie it, 23-all. Fort Hays State, recovered, however, and took the set, 25-23, on a kill from Mares.

Tied 6-6 in the second set, a kill from Spainhour started a 6-0 rally for the Tigers that put them in control for good.  Up 14-9, the Tigers broke out on an 8-0 burst to lead, 22-9, eventually taking the set, 25-15.

The teams remained close early in the third, when tied 5-5, the Tigers went up 8-5 to grab the final lead of the day.  Ahead by five (18-13) later on, FHSU closed the set on an 8-2 run, including a stretch of seven unanswered, to win, 25-16.

18 Tigers saw time in the match, and though no FHSU player hit double-digits in kills, Flagor led the team with seven kills while Spainhour had six kills, and Mikalah Hughes grabbed five kills.

Conor’s 15 assists led the Tigers’ setters, as Vanderplas added 13 assists and nine digs – tied for the team-high with Kelsey Broadwell.