HAMMOND, Ind.—The Truman Volleyball team snapped their losing streak Friday afternoon by defeating Kentucky Wesleyan 3-1 (25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 25-17) in their first matchup of the 2021 Midwest Region Crossover. Morgan Smith led the way with a double-double of 13 kills and 15 digs. Rachel DeFries tied Smith with 15 digs and led the team with 17 assists.

Allison Beaton opened the match with back to back kills and Truman jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead. KWC reeled off five straight points to move ahead, but Truman took back the lead with six of the next seven points. Truman led for most of the set, but at the very end KWC tied it at 22. From there an error by KWC and back to back aces from Ainsley Heise gave the set to the Bulldogs.

In the second set, Truman held an 8-6 lead after Smith collected two kills on three straight points for the Bulldogs. But KWC went on an 11-0 run from there to go up 17-8. The Bulldogs answered with six straight—including kills from Heise and Ellie Kaat to draw back within three at 17-14. But Truman could not complete the comeback as KWC evened the match at one.

To begin the third set, the two teams once again struggled to separate from the other. With the set even at seven, Truman grabbed two straight points to take the lead, followed by an answer from KWC and each run would be answered by the other team. With the set knotted at 16, an error from the Panthers and ace from Katy Motz gave Truman the lead as part of a 7-2 run that gave Truman the upper hand for good in the set.

Down 7-6 in the fourth set, Truman took control with an 8-1 run that put them up for good. Beaton started the run with a kill and Macy Vanfossan recorded an ace in the stretch. The Bulldogs expanded their lead to nine at 20-11 and finished the set with kills from Smith and Kate Benzing.

Tomorrow the action resumes with two games—the first will be an early start as the Bulldogs take on Lake Superior State at 9:30 AM ET/8:30 AM CT.