KIRKSVILLE, Mo.--The Truman Volleyball team returned home Sunday for the first home tri-match of the season, going against two ranked opponents in #2 Lewis and #16 Drury. In the first match, the Bulldogs couldn't get it going as they fell to the Flyers 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-18). But in the second match, the Bulldogs and Panthers traded blows back and forth just like a heavyweight fight; but ultimately Truman emerged victorious 3-2 (24-26, 25-22, 19-25, 25-17, 15-13).
Game One
The first set began very close as the team split the first ten points. But Lewis went on a 5-0 run and the Bulldogs were unable to recover. Truman would get no closer than four points as the Flyers took the first set.
After Truman got the first point of the second set, Lewis went on a 6-0 run and would not be caught from there. In the middle of the set, Truman rallied from down 16-8 to make it 16-14 as Sam Yancy picked up two kills, Lindsay Woltering picked up an ace and Ellie Kaat recorded the final kill to bring Truman within two. But Lewis would pull away to take the set.
The first set began tight as the teams were tied 6-6. But from there Lewis took six straight points and would not be caught the rest of the way.
Yancy led with nine kills and Woltering had 23 digs and Rachel DeFries led with 11 assists.
Game Two
The match against Drury was a thriller that saw both teams look like they were about to pull away and the other team answered. The first set went long as the Panthers won it 26-24. Allison Beaton collected the first two kills of the match for the Bulldogs, and momentum seesawed back and forth all match. At the end, with the set tied at 21, Drury strung three straight together but Truman answered with a kill from Emma Berthold and two Panther errors to tie it up at 24. But Drury got the next two to take the set.
Drury took a 6-3 lead to open set two, but the Bulldogs answered with five straight; including two kills from Berthold. With Truman up 11-10, Drury took four straight, answered by five straight from Truman. With the set knotted up at 18, Truman took five of the next six; including an ace from Yancy and a kill from Ainsley Heise to take a 23-19 lead. Kaat finished the set with a kill to tie the match at one.
The third set opened much like the other two as both teams went on mini-runs back and forth with neither gaining a decisive edge. With Truman up 17-14, Drury reeled off seven straight and Truman could not catch up as Drury went up 2-1.
Truman jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set up 11-7. A kill from Kaat and ace from DeFries spurred a 5-0 run that put Truman up 16-7. Truman hit .316 in the set and won going away 25-17 to take it to a fifth set.
The Bulldogs hot hitting continued in the final set as they hit .381 in the frame. The teams would trade one or two points back and forth, and it reached a 10-10 tie. From there, a kill from Kaat and back to back from Yancy put the Bulldogs up three. The Panthers drew within one at 13-12 and 14-13, but a ball handling error by Drury sealed the win for the Bulldogs.
Berthold tied a career high with 17 kills in the match. Woltering had 24 digs to tie her career high and Heise had five kills and five blocks.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Indianapolis and William Jewell in Liberty, Mo.
