KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - 21 days and 11 matches. That's how long it took for the Truman volleyball team to finally make its 2016 home debut on Friday night inside Pershing Arena. That debut ended with a mark in the win column as the Bulldogs defeated Southern Indiana three sets to one.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 3-9 overall and 2-1 in the GLVC while the Screaming Eagles fell to 6-6 on the season and 1-2 in league play.
Kayla Bastian led the team in kills once again, this time with 14, but she was joined at the top by freshman,
Claire Viviano's 14 kills. Prior to Friday, Viviano's career high in that department was nine.
Savvy Hughes had a huge night at the net with 43 assists, surpassing her previous season high by 12.
Defensively, Bastian led the squad in digs with 21 to add to her sixth double-double of the year, while
Lacey Hill and
Holly Hildebrand each had four total blocks.
In the first set, Southern Indiana led by as many as six on six different occasions before the home team started to feel the energy of its crowd. Trailing 15-9, Truman embarked on an 11-1 run and was up 20-16. During that spurt, the Screaming Eagles didn't help their own cause with four errors and Hildebrand sent home three kills. After that, the visitors pulled within one twice (20-19, 21-20), but the Bulldogs held on for the set win.
Next set, the hosts really picked up the momentum and trailed only once, 3-2. Truman led by as many as 12 five times (19-7, 20-8, 22-10, 24-12, and 25-13), one of which was the final score. The Bulldogs did all of that damage despite turning in a hitting percentage of .138, their lowest of the night.
Southern Indiana won the third set and led it throughout including a lead as big as seven. However, Truman wasn't about to let the match go five sets and took care of business in the fourth. In that set, the Screaming Eagles' latest lead came eight points in at 5-3. After that, though, they never scored more than two points in a row and the Bulldogs won three sets to one.
Next up, Truman will host Bellarmine on Saturday with first serve set for 1 p.m.
