HAMMOND, Ind.—The Truman Volleyball Team split matches against Lake Superior State and Cedarville Saturday, downing the Lakers 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-21) but fell to the Yellow Jackets 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-21). Ellie Kaat led the Bulldogs with 12 kills against LSSU and added 11 more against CU to pass 1,000 for her career--total of 1,002 and counting. She joins 17 other Bulldogs in program history to reach the milestone.
Match One
Early in the first set, Truman held a 9-8 lead but the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run to go up definitively for the rest of the set. Morgan Smith began the run with two kills and Macy Vanfossan finished it with an ace to go up 15-8. LSSU made a push later to make the set 16-13, but another 6-0 spurt from the Bulldogs held the Lakers at bay.
From a 2-2 tie in the set, Truman reeled off three straight points to take a lead in the set and they would not relinquish it. The Lakers pulled within three at 11-8 later in the set, but a 4-0 run from Truman that included kills from Kaat and Smith pushed LSSU back at arms length. From there Truman saw out the rest of the set to go up 2-0.
Truman trailed 15-11, but Ainsley Heise started a 5-0 run with a kill that gave Truman a one point lead. However, LSSU went back up 21-17. But from there Truman finished the set on an 8-0 run with two kills from Hanna Berry and two aces from Heise to finish the set and match.
Kaat led with 12 kills, while Rachel DeFries led with 24 assists and Smith led with 12 digs.
Match Two
The Bulldogs got off to a fast start against Cedarville, going up 7-2 in the first set as Berry collected three straight kills and Heise picked up another ace. Later in the set Vanfossan picked up two more aces and Kate Benzing picked up another kill to put Truman up 15-7. Truman held the lead the rest of the set and took the first set.
The second set was a very back and forth set, with the teams being tied many times—4,5,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,15,17,20,21 and 22. From a 22 all tie, CU got two straight to reach setpoint but Berry kept Truman alive before CU finished the set to tie the match.
Truman jumped out to a 4-1 lead early in the third set, but CU raced ahead to grab a 12-5 lead and from there Truman could not catch back up.
In the third set, Truman reeled off five straight down 9-6 to take an 11-9 lead, with Smith racking up three straight kills to open the run. After CU had tied the set, Truman scored three straight to retake the lead. Through the middle of the set the teams went back and forth giving and taking the lead, but Truman could not hold a 21-20 lead as CU took the last five points in the match.
Smith led the team with 17 kills and 21 digs in the match—with 21 digs being a new career high. DeFries had 24 assists to lead the team while Katy Motz added 21.
The Bulldogs will be back on the road this coming week as they go to Rockhurst on Thursday and then William Jewell on Saturday.
