ASHLAND, Ohio - The Truman State University volleyball team took to The Buckeye State for 2017's opening day at Ashland's Quality Inn Tournament on the first day of September. Despite winning the first set over Lake Erie in the morning, the Bulldogs dropped the decision 3-1, before suffering the same fate in the nightcap against the host Eagles.

Lake Erie (1-1) fell to Pitt-Johnstown in its late game, 3-0, while Ashland (2-0) defeated Urbana in straight sets for its first match on Friday. For the Purple and White's two matches, five Bulldogs tallied at least 10 kills including Jasmine Brown (26), Holly Hildebrand (15), Natalie Brimeyer (14), Jocelynn Livingston (14), and newcomer, Sam Yancy (12). Defensively, Savvy Hughes and Brown had 20+ digs with 24 and 21, respectively, while Brimeyer picked up right where she left off from last season with nine blocks (two solo, seven assisted).

Lake Erie 3, Truman 1

As mentioned above, Truman won its first set of the day over Lake Erie by a score of 25-23. In that set, the Bulldogs had just six total kills and hit .059, but were able to capitalize on the Storm's 11 errors and .049 hitting percentage. Early on, Lake Erie led by as many as eight on two occasions including 11-3 and 12-4 before the Purple and White began to assert themselves. They scored four of the next five points to pull within five, 13-8, before facing the same deficit at 14-9 and 15-10. That 10th point for Truman was part of five straight points that cut the margin to one, 15-14.

Despite that push, Lake Erie clinged to an advantage until Truman was able to finally knot up the score at 21-21. After one more tie at 23-23, the Bulldogs registered the final two points to take the set thanks to a bad set and an attack error by the Storm.

The second set was much tighter as it saw seven ties and two lead changes as opposed to three and two, respectively, in the first set. Through the first 16 points scored, neither team was able to garner a lead of more than two points until Truman did so on the 17th point, 10-7. The Bulldogs led by as many as five, four times including 15-10, 16-11, 17-12, and 18-13. However, the Storm battled back and regained the lead at 20-19. The Storm ended the set by scoring nine of a possible 10 points for a 25-20 decision.

The third set was the closest one of the showdown featuring 14 deadlocks and eight lead changes. The margin was never more than two points for the entire set and even saw some extra action before Lake Erie won it, 26-24. After 15 points played in the fourth set, Lake Erie was ahead by three, 9-6, before Truman called a timeout and scored six of the next eight points to go up 12-11. After a final tie at 14-14, the Storm never trailed again, won 25-19 and the match in four sets.

Ashland 3, Truman 1

In the first set against Ashland, who received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Associaion's (AVCA) preseason poll, Truman hit just -.093 and dropped the set by a score of 25-16. In the beginning of the second set, the Bulldogs led it early, 6-2, before the Eagles rattled off five of the next six points to knot things up at 7-7. After that, the margin was never more than two points in favor of any team until the Purple and White had a three-point advantage, 18-15. Ashland never even tied the score again, Truman led by as many as five as in the final score, 25-20.

For much of the third set, the Eagles controlled the action and in the early going, the Bulldogs only lead was at 1-0. That was the trend until the 38th point when the Purple and White had evened up the score at 19-19. After two more ties at 20-20 and 22-22, Ashland ended up winning the set by three, 25-22. The Eagles dominated the fourth set to the tune of 25-17 and led by as many as 14, 23-9.

Next up, the Bulldogs will face Pitt-Johnstown (10:30 a.m. CT) and Urbana (3:30 p.m. CT) on Saturday. Live stats and video will be available for both of those matches right here at TrumanBulldogs.com.

#BewareOfDog