Fort Hays State volleyball snapped its six-match losing skid on Friday evening (Oct. 17) with a 3-1 win at Missouri Southern. The Tigers dropped the first set, but bounced back to take the second and third sets by two points each and capped the match with a seven-point win in the fourth. The Tigers moved to 8-12 overall and 3-9 in the MIAA, while the Lions dropped to 5-15 overall and 2-10 in the MIAA.

Missouri Southern opened the match on a 12-4 run and cruised to a first set win. The Tigers countered that with a 9-3 run to cut the lead to two points at 15-13, but the Lions pushed the lead back to five controlled the remainder of the set.

Fort Hays State jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the second set, but Missouri Southern stormed back later to take a 19-16 after a 5-0 run. The Tigers clawed back to tie the set at 21 all, and then rallied for three straight points to make it 24-22. Mallory Flagor had the kill to give the Tigers the set 25-23 and tie the match at one set apiece. Flagor had the hot hand in the set with six kills, hitting .556 in the frame.

The pivotal third set was tight early, but the Lions broke a tie with a five-point run to take a 12-7 lead. The Tigers countered with a five-point run of their own later to take an 18-16 lead and pushed the lead out to three eventually to lead 21-18. The rollercoaster of runs continued as the Lions scored three straight to tie the set and had a chance for a lead in the match at 24-23, but committed two straight errors to give the Tigers set point at 25-24. FHSU seized the opportunity as Flagor had the clinching kill once again to win the set 26-24 and put the Tigers up in the match. Kaitlin Bradley had a team-best four kills in the set.

Fort Hays State took control of the fourth set with a five-point run to take a 12-7 lead, then pushed the margin to six at 15-9. However, the violent swings in momentum continued as the Lions reeled off four straight points to make it 15-13. The Lions remained within two points at 20-18, but the Tigers finished strong with a five-point run, capped by three straight kills from Teresa Wade for a 25-18 win. Wade had an impressive seven kills in the set.

Flagor led the Tigers with 15 kills and Kaitlin Bradley added 12. Wade finished with eight kills and hit .500 in the match. Kristin Conor produced a double-double of a team-best 21 assists and 12 digs. Raegan Vanderplas added 20 assists.

The Tigers played good defense, posting 11 blocks as a team. Callie Christensen recorded nine blocks (one solo, eight assisted) on the evening, which tied the fourth-most produced in a four-set match in the rally scoring era at FHSU. Taylor Mares had five blocks, Flagor added three, and Sara Hewson and Rebekah Spainhour each had a pair. FHSU limited MSSU to a .103 hitting percentage for the match.

The Tigers have a pair of matches on Saturday (Oct. 18) in Edmond, Okla. FHSU faces Central Oklahoma in conference play at 2 pm, and then will stay on the floor to meet Bacone College at approximately 4 pm.