Box Score
Box Score

After falling behind two sets to one, the Fort Hays State volleyball fought back to win the final two sets and down No. 24 Truman on Saturday (Sept. 24) at Gross Memorial Coliseum. The win is the Tigers first conference win this season and snaps a 32-match MIAA losing streak and a 49-match winless streak against ranked opponents.

The match was a battle throughout, with the first two sets going beyond 25 and each of them within four points. The team's  hit an identical .178 from the field, with FHSU having a slight advantage in kills (73 to 64) and digs (104 to 99) and Truman finishing with 13 blocks to 11 for the Tigers.

Fort Hays State started strong in the first set, hitting .244 and getting 19 kills, led by seven from Kylee Hoagland. FHSU tied the set at 25-25 on a kill from Madison Schwartz and used a pair of Truman hitting errors to win the set 27-25. They had another chance late in the second set after taking a 27-26 lead on a consecutive kills from Hoagland, but Truman came back with kills from Molly Sinclair and Emily Briseno to take it 29-27.

The Tigers also had chances in the third set, taking a 17-15 lead after kills from Camille Hubert and Schwartz. But, following a Truman timeout, the Bulldogs quickly scored six straight point and took a demanding 23-19 lead in the set. Fort Hays State would gain a couple more points on kills from Hoagland and Sara Hewson, but Truman put the set away 25-22 after a kill by Erin Burmester.

Trailing by a set, Fort Hays State dug deep in the fourth set and used another quick start to pull ahead. Hoagland came to serve with the score 9-8 and reeled off five straight points, which included two kills from Hewson and a two service aces. Building the 14-8 lead was crucial, as Truman made another run and even took the lead at 20-19. With the set tied at 23-23, Hewson put down another kill before the Tigers won the set on an attack error from Emily Briseno of Truman.

Gross Memorial Coliseum came alive in the fifth set and the Tigers road the momentum, getting four kills by Madison Schwartz early in the set. The set was tied at every point from 1-1 to 7-7, which was when Fort Hays State finally pulled away. Truman took their final timeout after a service ace from Zoglman gave FHSU a 10-7 lead, and the teams traded kills on the next two points. After Schwartz was blocked by Megan Sharpe and Allie Brak, the Fort Hays State lead had dwindled to 12-11, but the Tigers closed the door after getting a solo block by Jenna Ulrich and two kills from Hubert to close the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.

Fort Hays State had five players with more than 10 kills, including Hoagland, Schwartz and Ulrich with 16, Hubert with 13 and Hewson with 10. Five players also had double digit digs, led by Tracie Hileman's 27 and Makenzie Weinman's 24. Hubert added 19 digs, followed by 16 from Hewson and 12 from Zoglman. Zoglman also tied her season-high with 59 assists and put down three service aces. Seven different Tigers recorded a block, led by Ulrich with seven (one solo, six assist).

Truman was led by 16 kills from Megan Sharpe, 26 assists from Meghan Zimmerman, and 19 digs apiece by Allie Brak and Molly Sinclair.

The win for Fort Hays State snaps two long winless streaks. It was the first win for the Tigers over an MIAA opponent since October 21, 2009, a streak of 32 conference matches. In addition, it was also the team's first win over a ranked opponent in 49 matches, dating back to November 19, 2004 when they defeated No. 24 Rockhurst in five sets at the Southwest Regional.

Fort Hays State now improves to 9-6 on the year and 1-4 on the MIAA while Truman drops to 6-5 and 1-2 in conference. The Tigers now step out of conference play for the final tournament of the season, heading to Odessa, Texas next weekend for the Texas-Permian Basin Tournament.