Ft. LAUDERDALE, Fla.—Truman opened their season at the Nova Southeastern Tournament Friday against #15 nationally ranked Palm Beach Atlantic and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. The Bulldogs were playing both for the first time in program history, falling to PBA but defeating Mayaguez.

The Bulldogs hung tough but ultimately fell 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-18) in their opening match of the season. In the first set Truman took three of the first five points as Ainsley Heise racked up two kills. PBA went on a 4-0 run to take a 6-3 lead, then Truman rallied to tie the set at six a piece. From there PBA went on a 6-1 run to go up 12-7. From there a couple of attack errors and a big kill from Sam Yancy got Truman back within one at 12-11. The teams went back and forth before Truman eventually tied the set at 15. But a 3-0 run from PBA gave them a lead they would not relinquish as they took the set 25-20.

PBA started the second set quickly, taking a 6-2 lead. Truman went on a quick 3-0 run, started by a block from Heise and Jocelynn Livingston. As Truman drew within a point at 6-5 and had momentum behind them, PBA went on a 7-0 run took a 13-5 lead. From there Truman would get to within four at 15-11 and 23-19 but come no closer as PBA took the set 25-19.

Truman took the first point of the third set with a kill from Morgan Smith, one of her five kills in the match. Livingston also got a kill as the Bulldogs took a quick 5-1 lead to open the set. PBA fought back to tie the set at six, and from there they would not trail again. They took the set 25-18 to win the match.

Yancy led the team with eight kills, while Heise racked up seven in her first career match. Heise also assisted on both of the team's blocks.


Match Two
 
Truman earned their first win of the season as they defeated Puerto Rico-Mayaguez 3-2 (14-25, 21-25, 25-18, 25-14, 17-15). Morgan Smith set a career high with 14 kills while both Yancy and Livingston had 12 kills. Ambria Whitlock led the team with five blocks and Livingston added four more, the team had ten blocks overall.

In the first set, Yancy had two kills but Mayaguez came out hot, jumping out to a 5-1 lead and never looking back as they took the set 25-14.

The second set started in a similar manner. Mayaguez started quickly once again jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Smith finally broke the streak with a kill and Truman would pull within two at 5-7. But each time throughout the set that the Bulldogs would get close, Mayaguez would pull away and ultimately took the set 25-21.

During the third set, Truman started to get their feet under them and took their first lead of the game at 7-6. It was a tightly contested set but Whitlock got a crucial kill with the set tied at ten to set Truman on a 9-0 run that put Truman up for good. Late in the set Mayaguez had pulled within four at 20-16 but Whitlock ended that run with another kill and Truman won the set 25-18.

Smith started the fourth set with two straight kills which sparked a 7-0 run to begin the fourth set. During the run, Elise Hardesty recorded a kill and four assists. Later in the set, Mayaguez went on a quick 3-0 run to pull within six points of Truman at 15-9. The Bulldogs responded with a 6-0 run to swing momentum and would take the set 25-14.

At the start of the fifth set, things looked much like how the first two began. Mayaguez took the momentum back and had a 6-3 lead. But Truman went on a 5-0 run that included kills from Livingston and Yancy to go up 8-6. Though it was a tightly contested set, Truman would not trail again. From 15 all a kill from Heise and an attack error gave Truman a 17-15 win in the set and they took the match.

Up next for the team is a double header on Saturday, starting at 8:30 a.m. as they take on Shaw University, and then take on the hosts, Nova Southeastern, at 11 a.m.