Box Score
Box Score

The Fort Hays State volleyball team hosted Northwest Missouri State on Friday evening (Sept. 23) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The match was the MIAA home opener for Fort Hays State, but they were unable to break through and gain a conference win, falling in four sets (14-25, 25-21, 25-27, 23-25).

The Tigers came out slow in the first set, falling behind 10-5 early and causing Kurt Kohler to call two quick timeouts. That would not slow the Bearcats momentum as they cruised to a 25-14 victory in the first set. Fort Hays State aided the Northwest Missouri State by hitting -.083 in the set with 11 hitting errors.

Fort Hays State turned it around in the second set, hitting .162 and getting six kills from Camille Hubert and three from Sara Hewson. Hubert finished the set off with the Tigers' final two kills which gave them the 25-21 second set win.

Opportunites existed in the third set for FHSU to take a lead in the match, but they could not capitalize on and convert a pair of set points. A kill from Madison Schwartz put the Tigers ahead 24-23 but was answered by a kill from Northwest Missouri State's Whitney Mason following a Bearcat timeout. Alex Hanna of Northwest then committed a service error, giving Fort Hays State another set point that at 25-24. Once again, however, FHSU was unable to convert and Northwest rallied off three straight points to take the set 27-25.

The fourth set was another battle, with Fort Hays State falling behind by five at 12-7 and causing Kohler to take his second timeout. The Tigers did claw back to tie the set twice, but could not take the lead. A Hubert kill tied the match at 22-22, but Hubert's next hit went wide to put Northwest back on top 23-22. After an attack error from Schwartz, the Tigers got a kill from Kylee Hoagland to pull to within 24-23, but a kill from Abby Graves of Northwest sealed the set and match for Northwest.

The poor hitting of Fort Hays State cost them, with 36 hitting errors and six service errors. For the match, FHSU hit just .067 as compared to .137 for Northwest Missouri State. Hewson led the Tigers with 11 kills while adding 14 digs. Hubert also had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs. Schwartz contributed 10 kills as well, while Tracie Hileman led the FHSU defense with 19 digs. Kayla Zoglman set up the Tigers with 40 assists while Jenna Ulrich led the team with four blocks (one solo, three assist).

Fort Hays State drops to 8-6 on the year, but 0-4 in MIAA play. They face a quick turnaround before facing No. 24 Truman at home on Saturday (Sept. 24). Match time is set for 2:00 pm.