FHSU volleyball falls in three sets to Emporia State

FHSU Athletics

Fort Hays State saw its recent woes continue on Tuesday evening at Gross Memorial Coliseum, falling in three games (26-24, 25-15, 25-13) to Emporia State.

The loss was the Tigers’ sixth straight, dropping them to 7-12 overall and 2-9 in conference play.

Kurt Kohler Post Match Interview

FHSU fought back from an early deficit in the first to force set point, but couldn’t complete the comeback and fell behind, 1-0, in the match. At 9-9, ESU pulled away on a six-point run to lead, 15-9, but after a timeout, FHSU recovered to slowly climb back, taking a 20-19 lead after a five-point burst of its own.

Soon after, the Tigers grabbed a 23-21 lead off kills from Taylor Mares and Sara Hewson, before trading points to get to 24-22. ESU called a timeout at set point, however, and regrouped to score four straight points and take the set, 26-24.

ESU started the second frame on an 8-0 run and never looked back. The closest FHSU came in the set was a five-point deficit (19-14) late, but a 6-1 run ended the set for ESU, 25-15.

Tied 6-6 in the third set, a kill from ESU’s Katie Deutschmann set the Hornets on a 6-0 run that provided separation for the final time. ESU closed the match on a 4-0 run for a 25-13 set win.

Taylor Mares led the Tigers with 10 kills for the game (her eighth double-digit kills performance), while Mallory Flagor had nine kills.

Libby Ary (14 assists) and Kristin Conor (12 assists) shared time in a setter rotation, as Ary added eight digs to rank second on the team. Keanu Bradley‘s 19 digs paced the team.

The Tigers showed improvement on the defensive side of the net, tallying eight blocks as team after two straight matches with just three team blocks. Rebekah Spainhour led the team with five block assists, while Flagor added four blocks and Mikalah Hughes and Mares each had two block assists.

FHSU hits the road this weekend for three games, starting with Missouri Southern on Friday (Oct. 17). The Tigers then travel to Central Oklahoma on Saturday (Oct. 18) for a doubleheader with the Bronchos and Bacone College