KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—Riding high off the momentum of a thrilling win Friday over William Jewell, the Truman Volleyball team came into Saturday's match with 19th ranked Rockhurst with the energy to pull off the upset on their home floor. Despite some good play, especially in the second set, it was not enough as Rockhurst won 3-0 (25-16, 25-21, 25-10).
Continuing on her play from last night, Ellie Kaat had two kills in the first four points. It was 3-3 when Rockhurst went on a 6-2 run to take a 9-5 lead and from there they would not trail the rest of the set. Truman would get as close as two at 9-7 each time the Bulldogs would get a little momentum the Hawks would answer. From 19-14, Rockhurst closed the set on a 6-2 run to take the set 25-16.
Despite a cold finish to the first set, Truman came out hot in the second. They took a quick 8-3 lead, with kills coming from Sam Yancy, Ainsley Heise, Jocelynn Livingston and Morgan Smith. Rockhurst took a timeout, and from there would close the gap to three at 11-8. Truman took the next two points to take back the five point edge, and kept the lead through most of the set. But the Hawks chipped away, and eventually tied the set at 20. From a 21-21 deadlock, Rockhurst reeled off the last four points of the set to win 25-21.
To start the third set, the Bulldogs took three of the first four points. The lead would be short lived as Rockhurst would tie the set at three and then from a 5-5 tie would take five of the next six points to establish a 10-6 lead. Later in the set Kate Benzing got a kill to make it 14-8, and from there Rockhurst went on an 8-0 run to take a 22-8 lead and from there closed out the set 25-10 to win the match.
Lauren Wacker had 29 digs today, bringing her season total to 515. She needs 71 over the last five matches of the season to eclipse her sophomore total of 585 and set a career high for digs in a season. Kaat and Smith each had five kills to tie for the team lead and Elise Hardesty led with 11 assists.
The team will hit the road next weekend as they take on Quincy in an out of conference tilt on Tuesday and then Lindenwood and Missouri-St. Louis over the weekend.
