Box Score

The Tiger volleyball team fell into a 2-set deficit, but nearly rallied to force a fifth set at Northwest Missouri State on Wednesday night (Sept. 19). The Tigers held a 23-22 lead in the fourth set, but the Bearcats rallied for three straight points and ended the match. Fort Hays State is now 8-5 overall and 2-2 in the MIAA.

The Tigers held leads late in each set, but the Bearcats found a burst at the end of the first two sets to take the early commanding lead in the match. With FHSU up 20-19 in the first set, the Bearcats rallied for six straight points to close out the set. Three of those points came on kills by Brooke Bartosh, the Bearcat leader in kills.

In the second set, FHSU led at 19-18 and then the teams traded points until a 22-22 tie. The Bearcats picked up the final three points of the set, but the last two points came on hitting errors by the Tigers.

Fort Hays State took a commanding lead in the third set at 18-10 before the Bearcats stormed back to make the Tigers earn the set. The Bearcats closed to within a point at 22-21, but Sara Hewson kept the Tigers in front with a kill, then freshman Mallory Flagor stepped up and put down the final two kills for FHSU in a 25-22 set win.

The fourth set was a tight battle throughout. The Tigers led 20-19 before the Bearcats went on a three-point burst to take a 22-20 lead. Flagor stepped up again to put down a kill, pulling the Tigers back within one, then Kylee Hoagland came up with two blocks in a row, a solo to tie the game and then an assisted effort with Kayla Zoglman to put the Tigers back in front 23-22. Unfortunately, the Bearcats would end the set on a three-point run, all on errors by the Tigers. Makenzie Weinman had a service error, followed by a Zoglman attack that was blocked and then a bad set by Zoglman to end the match.

Jenna Ulrich and Sara Hewson led the way in kills for FHSU, each with 11. Hewson finished with a double-double, adding 11 digs. Kayla Zoglman also had a double-double of 29 assists and 11 digs. Makenzie Weinman led the Tigers in digs with 16 and Tara Hoekman also added 13. Ulrich led the blocking effort with seven in the match.

Brooke Bartosh and Abby Graves carried the Bearcats on offense. Bartosh finished with a match-high 19 kills and Graves added 16. The Bearcats outhit the Tigers .185 to .125 in the match and put down 17 more kills. The Bearcats helped the Tigers out with 29 hitting errors, 12 which were blocks by the Tigers, and 15 service errors. Northwest Missouri State stayed perfect in MIAA play with the win, moving to 8-4 overall and 4-0 in the MIAA.

The Tigers look to rebound this weekend in Denver, Colo., at the Johnson & Wales Tournament on Friday and Saturday. FHSU takes on Embry-Riddle Aeronautical and Bethany College on Friday, then Southwestern College and Johnson & Wales on Saturday.