KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - In danger of losing a third straight GLVC match, the Truman volleyball team rose to the occasion by securing its first sweep of the season over William Jewell on Saturday afternoon inside Pershing Arena.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 4-11 overall and 3-3 in the conference while the Cardinals now sit at 9-7 on the year and 3-3 in league action.
Kayla Bastian (pictured) rebounded from a tough Friday night to lead the team in kills with 12 and
Lacey Hill turned in 10 as well. Bastian hit a red-hot .364 without a single error on 33 total attacks. Other leaders for the Purple and White included
Savvy Hughes (40 assists),
Jocelynn Livingston (two service aces/15 digs),
Bailey O'Drobinak (four blocks), and
Lauren Wacker (15 digs).
Truman came out on fire by hitting .429 in the first set thanks to 18 kills and only three errors on 35 swings. In fact, the home team hit at least .282 in each set and .330 for the entire match, its first time hitting at least .300 in a match all season. The Bulldogs opened on a 9-2 run before the Cardinals fought all the way back and took their only lead of the set, 16-15. From that point on, though, Truman rattled off a 10-2 spurt to take the set and a 1-0 match advantage.
That momentum carried into the second set as William Jewell's only lead was at 1-0. In the second game, the hosts led by as many as seven, 22-15, and the closest their visitors could get was two, 24-22, before the final three-point margin. That was the Cardinals' best hitting set of the match at .256 with 14 kills and four errors on 39 total attacks.
13 points into the third set, the Bulldogs led 7-6 and neither team had tallied more than two points in a row. However, Truman really began to feel it with a 7-1 run to go up seven, 14-7, its biggest lead of the game. William Jewell did its best to make it competitive with eight of the next 10 points and trailed by one, 16-15. However, the Bulldogs finished the set on a 9-3 run to secure the set and a 3-0 match victory.
Next up, Truman hits the road and will play at Quincy on Tuesday with first serve set for 7 p.m.
