The Fort Hays State volleyball team split a pair of matches at Friends University on Thursday night in Wichita, Kan. The Tigers fell in the first match of the night 3-1 before bouncing back to take the second match by the same margin. FHSU is now 13-17 overall on the season.
Match 1: Friends 3, Fort Hays State 1
Fort Hays State came out and dominated the first set, hitting .429 compared to .133 for Friends to win the opening set by 10. The Friends attack grew stronger as the match progressed, edging the Tigers 25-23 in the second set by hitting .298 in the set.
The momentum shifted dramatically in Friends’ favor in the third set as the Tigers struggled in every facet of the game. The Falcons ran away with the set 25-8 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. FHSU hit -.111 in the third frame compared to .357 for Friends.
Fort Hays State battled in set four and had a set point at 24-23 to force a fifth set, but Friends reeled off three straight points to win the set 26-24 and the match 3-1.
Mallory Flagor led the Tigers with 15 kills, followed by Jenna Ulrich and Taylor Mares each with 10. Raegan Vanderplas led the team in assists with 24, followed by Libby Ary with 21. Makenzie Weinman led the team in digs with 27. Ary finished with a double-double, adding 14 digs.
The Tigers could not find an answer for Crystal Taporco, who recorded 21 kills for Friends hitting .450 for the match. Aubree Young added 13 kills for the Falcons.
Match 2: Fort Hays State 3, Friends 1
The Fort Hays State attack was red-hot in the first two sets of the second match, hitting .429 in set 1 and .325 in set 2 to take a 2-0 lead in the match by scores of 25-17 and 25-21.
The attack cooled in the third set to just .125 and Friends hit .289 to pull within one in the match at 2-1. But the Tigers would put the match away in the fourth, limiting the Falcons to just an .051 hitting percentage to win 25-17.
Taylor Mares had a great match, finishing with a team-high 23 kills and a .568 hitting percentage. Jenna Ulrich added 11 kills, while Mallory Flagor and Sara Hewson each added 10. Libby Ary had 38 assists, while Raegan Vanderplas had 26. Camille Hubert finished with a team-high 34 digs and Hewson recorded a double-double with 22 digs to go with her 10 kills.
Crystal Taporco led Friends with 13 kills, followed by Aubree Young with nine.
Fort Hays State returns to action at home on Wednesday, November 13 against Emporia State in MIAA play. The match is set for 7 pm at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays.
— FHSU Sports Information —