October 20, 2010
Box Score | Season Stats
(KIRKSVILLE) – The No. 11 Truman volleyball team notched its third win this season against a top-15 opponent, handing 12th-ranked Emporia State a 3-0 (-19, 31-29, -21) setback in Pershing Arena on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs salvaged a season-split with the Hornets with the win.
On a night in which the Bulldogs (20-3, 9-2 MIAA) hit .258 as a team, it was the middle hitters that did the most damage against ESU (17-5, 8-3), as sophomores Emily Briseno (Lee's Summit, Mo.) and Megan Sharpe (Edwardsville, Ill.) put down ten kills apiece, with Briseno's .643 attack percentage leading all players in the match. The balanced Bulldogs got seven kills or more from five different players, with senior Allison Barker (Racine, Wis.) adding nine, and both junior Molly Sinclair (St. Louis, Mo.) and sophomore Allyson Stellmach (Huntley, Ill.) chipping in seven each.
“Tonight, our balance was a big part of the victory because there wasn't one person that Emporia was able to key on,” head coach Ben Briney said. “Our middles did a great job of being an option, which put a lot of pressure on their middles, which then opened up the outside and rightside hitters.”
The Bulldogs trailed Emporia, 14-11, in the first set before the squad rattled off an 11-2 run to take a 22-16 lead. Truman made its own luck during the rally, getting either a kill or a block on all 11 points. From there, the Bulldogs sided-out for a 25-19 decision.
Another mid-set rally had the Bulldogs poised to move to an easy 2-0 lead, as, after leading 14-13, Truman took eight of the next ten points to hold a 22-15 lead. But the Hornets fought back, battling off three Truman set points and eventually took the lead at 26-25 after a Bulldog attack error. After each team had two set points in the extra time, it was the service game that made the difference, as an ESU serving error put Truman ahead, 30-29, before Ashley Petak (Omaha, Neb.) dealt an ace of her own to eventually close the set in Truman's favor.
Then, in the third frame, Emporia led 17-13 before Sharpe's serving and the Hornets' attacking brought the Bulldogs back to life. Sharpe started the rally with a kill in front of three straight ESU attack errors to knot the set at 17. A Sharpe ace put Truman ahead 18-17, and, after ESU scored two straight to lead 19-18, Truman closed the match with a 7-2 run and evened the season series with the visiting Hornets.
For the match, the Bulldogs out-hit Emporia, .258 to .159, and totaled 62 digs in the three-set affair. Barker led the Bulldogs with 25 digs – a new career-high – and senior Casey Bruno (Pearland, Texas) added 16. At the net, Briseno led all players with six blocks (one solo, five assisted), with Stellmach tacking on four (three assisted) of her own.
Brittney Miller led the Hornets with ten kills and hit .280, and Jordan Lockwood added eight kills and nine digs.
The win marked the 21st consecutive 20-win season for the Truman volleyball program and placed the squad in a tie for second place in the MIAA with No. 2 Washburn at 9-2. The Bulldogs travel to take on the WU Lady Blues this Friday (Oct. 22) night at 7 pm in Topeka, Kan., before heading further west to take on Fort Hays State on Saturday (Oct. 23) evening.
