Springfield, Mo.—After splitting a doubleheader on the first day of the Drury Tournament, the Truman volleyball team took the floor on Saturday against two ranked opponents--#7 Northern State (S.D.) and #18 Northwest Missouri State. In the first match, Northern had the upper hand early on and while Truman grew into the match as it went on it was not enough as Northern won (25-15, 25-15, 26-24). In the second match, Truman hung tough but fell (19-25, 25-15, 25-20, 23-25, 15-12).
In the first match, the first set started out pretty tight. It was tied 7-7, but from there Northern went on a 14-2 run to all but finish the set. Down 21-9, the Bulldogs would fight for a few points but ultimately fell in the set 25-15.
A service ace by Lindsay Woltering helped TSU jump out to a 3-1 lead at the start of the second set. But a 4-0 run by the Wolves put them up in the set 5-3. The set went back and forth and was at 8-6 Northern before a 4-0 spurt for the Wolves put them up for good as they took the set 25-19.
The third set started well for Truman as they scored the first three of the set, including one on a kill from Ambria Whitlock. With Truman up 7-5 in the set, Northern went on another 4-0 spurt to capture the lead. But Truman would not go down easily. A kill from Sam Yancy tied the set at ten, part of a 6-0 run for the Bulldogs that gave them a 14-10 lead. Northern would tie the set later at 19 following a service ace. But Truman took the lead back, and would not surrender it until Northern took the lead at 23-22. Truman would tie the set at 24, but two straight points took the set 26-24 for Northern and the match 3-0.
Both Morgan Smith and Sam Yancy had 13 kills in the match to lead the team.
Match Two
Early on in the first set, Yancy had back to back kills to give Truman the lead at 6-5. The Bearcats would take the lead back, but Truman would knot the set up at 13. With the set tied at 14, Truman took the lead and would not let it go the rest of the set. Up 19-18, a 5-0 run by Truman which had kills from Smith, Jocelynn Livingston and Ainsley Heise sealed the set. Elise Hardesty also got an ace and Smith got a kill to finish off the set 25-19.
In the second set, a 14-3 run to make it 15-4 for the Bearcats set the tone for the set. A late 4-2 run cut the deficit for the Bulldogs to single digits but it was not enough as NWMSU won the set 25-15.
The third set was tight early on at 10-9 in favor of NWMSU, and a 5-0 run in the middle of the set gave them a six point lead and they would not trail the rest of the set. TSU got within two at 20-18, but could not come any closer as they dropped the set 25-19.
The fourth set was a nail biter. The two teams never got any more than three points away from one another and it was tied 14 times. But ultimately Truman prevailed 25-23 to force a fifth set.
Truman jumped all over the Bearcats early in the fifth set, up 7-2 following a kill by Smith. But NWMSU returned the favor to tie the game at 9. The match was knotted at 12, but the final three went to the Bearcats to take the set 15-12 and the match 3-2. Smith led the team with 17 kills and Yancy had a double-double with 11 kills and 14 digs. Five players had double digit digs, led by Lauren Wacker with 20.
The Bulldogs will hit the court next on the 20th at the Bellarmine Tournament in Louisville, Ky. at 10 a.m.
