The UMSL women’s volleyball team has an 11-4 record after sweeping Rockhurst, Friday night in Kansas City. (Photo courtesy: UMSL Athletics)
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UMSL | 25 | 25 | 33 | (3) |
| Rockhurst | 23 | 14 | 31 | (0) |
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, MO — The University of Missouri-St. Louis women’s volleyball team extended its win streak to three games with a three sets to none sweep over Rockhurst University, Friday evening at Mason-Halpin Field House in Kansas City. The Tritons improved to 11-4 overall, and 4-1 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play, while the host Hawks fell to 9-4 overall and 2-2 in conference.
Graduate senior outside hitter Charlotte Richards had a match-high 17 kills to lead the Tritons. She also had two aces and two blocks, and was one of three UMSL players to reach double figures in kills.
Teammates Hailey Flowers and Lexie Rang had 14 kills and 10 kills, respectively, while freshman setter Caitlyn Bishop had a match-high 49 assists.
UMSL led by eight midway through the opening stanza but Rockhurst rallied to even things at 20 after a kill from Kenzie Hines. The Tritons regained the lead at 22-20 on back-to-back kills from Flowers and freshman middle blocker Hannah Copeland, but the Hawks rallied again to tie the score at 22.
UMSL retook the lead on a service error by Hines and got to set point first as Mya Elliott knocked one home to give the Tritons a 24-22 lead. Rockhurst fought off the first set point, but couldn’t stave off a second, to give UMSL the 25-23 victory.
The Hawks jumped out to 3-0 lead to begin the second set but after that it was all Tritons. UMSL ran off 12 of the next 14 points to build an eight-point lead and wouldn’t look back on its way to the 25-14 set win. The Tritons hit .344 in the frame while holding Rockhurst to .088 hitting percentage.
The third stanza was the tightest of the three with 15 ties and six lead changes. UMSL fell behind early but rallied to take a 16-12 lead.
The Hawks regrouped and scored seven straight points to take a 19-16 lead after an ace from Gracey Jones. Rockhurst still led by three at 22-19, but the Tritons responded by scoring five of the next seven points to even the frame at 24. The two sides then went back-and-forth with each team having four chances to close out the set but neither could.
UMSL trailed 31-30 after an error by Elliott but came back to score the final three points of the match to complete the sweep. Richards had a kill to even things at 31 and then an error by Sarah Montague gave the Tritons match point at 32-31. Caitlin Bishop ended the contest with a kill to give UMSL the 33-31 victory.
The Tritons hit .266 for the match with 55 kills against 18 errors in 139 chances. The Hawks finished the contest with a .196 attack percentage with 46 kills against 18 errors in 143 swings.
UMSL returns to the court on Saturday, October 1, as it travels down to Bolivar, Mo., to take on the Southwest Baptist University at 3 p.m. The Tritons will be back home next weekend, with games against Drury and Missouri S&T, respectively.
UMSL sports information contributed to this story.