Fort Hays State had a golden opportunity slip away in a 3-1 loss at home to Missouri Western on Friday evening (Oct. 10). Up 1-0 in the match, FHSU had set point in the second set at 25-24, only to see MWSU reel off three straight points to even the match. The Griffons (14-3, 8-1 MIAA) built on the momentum shift and cruised in the third and fourth sets to take the match, pushing the Tigers season record to 7-10 overall and 2-7 in the MIAA.
The Tigers took advantage of a sluggish looking Griffon squad in the first set. Tied 10-10, the Tigers went on a quick three-point burst and the Griffons never caught up the rest of the set. FHSU won the opening set by a count of 25-20.
Rebekah Spainhour and
Callie Christensen led the Tigers, each with four kills in the set.
Missouri Western built an early four-point second-set advantage at 10-6, but FHSU countered with four straight points to tie it at 10 all. The teams traded points to 15-15 before Missouri Western went on a little burst to lead 19-16, but once again the Tigers clawed back and tied the set at 20-20. The Griffons got to set point at 24-22, but a service error and a pair of attacking errors turned the tide and the Tigers found themselves at set point, leading 25-24. Out of a timeout, the Griffons ended the hope of a two-set lead for the Tigers as Erica Rottinghaus tied the set, and then Jessie Thorup had consecutive kills lift the Griffons to a 27-25 second-set win. The teams were nearly identical attacking in the set, both with 18 kills and five errors, but FHSU had two more attempts on net.
From that point, Missouri Western took control of the match. Tied 11-11 in the third, the Griffons went on a six-point run to build a 17-11 lead and never let the Tigers closer than four points the rest of the way to go up 2-1 by a score of 25-18. The fourth set was close again early, but leading 13-12 the Griffons reeled off six straight points again to build a seven-point lead and they went on a cruise 25-15.
Christensen was a bright spot in the middle for FHSU, tying for a team-high 12 kills. She hit .500 for the match with just one error on her 22 attempts.
Mallory Flagor tied Christensen for the team lead in kills.
Sara Hewson added nine kills and 12 digs.
Keanu Bradley led the defensive effort with 18 digs, while
Kristin Conor had a team-high 25 assists followed by
Libby Ary with 18.
Jessie Thorup led Missouri Western with 25 kills, while hitting .467 for the match. Kelsey Olion had 13 kills and Rottinghaus had 11, each adding 11 digs for double-doubles. Jordon Chohon had 58 assists and Sarah Faubel had a team-high 20 digs.
The Tigers return to action at home on Saturday (Oct. 11) at 3 pm against Northwest Missouri State.
