KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—By virtue of Missouri S&T's victory over Lindenwood earlier in the day, the Truman Volleyball team's chances of making the GLVC Tournament were dashed. However, the Bulldogs were able to spoil the chances of Southern Indiana making the GLVC Tournament by virtue of their 3-1 (25-14, 25-16, 20-25, 25-16) victory in what would be their season finale.
The first set was one of the best Truman played all year—they jumped out to a 9-2 lead and never trailed in the set. They hit .333 in the set with no attack errors. Sam Yancy had three of her 11 kills in the set, leading the way for the 25-14 victory.
Much like the first set, the Bulldogs jumped all over SIU to begin the second set as they took an 11-5 lead. However, the Screaming Eagles would come back to get within two at 12-10. Out of the Truman timeout, the Bulldogs wasted no time getting the lead back up to five following a kill by Ellie Kaat. It was one of her team leading 14 on the day. From there, SIU would get back within two but no closer at the Bulldogs took the set 25-16.
The script flipped in the third set. From a 10-10 deadlock, the Screaming Eagles took the lead at 12-10 and from there would not trail the rest of the set. Truman got within one at 16-15, but a 4-1 run from SIU made the lead 20-16 and from there the visitors saw out the rest of the set to remain in the match with the 25-20 win.
Another fast start in the fourth set all but cemented the outcome of the set. Truman led by four at 5-1, 8-4, 10-6, 11-7 and 12-8 but from there Truman reeled off five straight points to go up 17-8 and it was over from there. Five straight points from SIU made the outcome more dramatic but no less certain. From 20-16, Truman scored the last five of the match to end the set and the match.
In their final matches, Lauren Wacker tied for the team lead in digs with 19, Jocelynn Livingston had six kills, Meghan Gasper had four digs and an assist, Elle Renault had five digs and Ambria Whitlock had three kills, one solo block and assisted on two others.
Yancy and Morgan Smith each had double-doubles with 11 kills-19 digs and 10 kills-10 digs, respectively.
The Bulldogs finished the season strong with three wins in their final four matches, and with plenty of returning talent 2020 looks promising.
