Truman State (0) vs. Southwestern Oklahoma State (3)

In a battle of the Bulldogs, it was Southwestern Oklahoma State downing Truman State 3-0 in the opening match on Friday at the Missouri Southern Invite. 

Truman was led by seven kills each from Hanna Berry, Annabelle Crowder and Jessica Proszenyak. Berry added two service aces and three blocks while Crowder led all hitters with 27 total attacks. Rachel DeFries had 13 assists followed by Emma Baierl with 12. Truman hit .106 as a team with four service aces.

Southwestern got 13 kills from Maicee Morgan and 12 from Lacy Mott. Morgan scored 15.5 points with a pair of aces and a block. SWOSU hit .239 as a team and totaled six service aces. 

Set 1 (SWOKSU 25-14)

Southwestern scored the first five of six points and raced out of the gates to a 9-3 lead. Truman State got a brief spurt with three consecutive points to cut the lead to 18-11, however SWOSU countered by finishing the opening set on a 7-3 run to win. 

Set 2 (SWOKSU 25-22)

SWOSU scored four straight to lead 8-5 in set two before Truman fired back. The Bulldogs overtook their opponents with a 7-1 run to up 19-15. Allison Beaton got a kill followed by a service ace from Hanna Berry to start four straight points for TSU. SWOKSU rallied with four of the next five forcing a Truman timeout at 20-19. Annabelle Crowder got the kill out of the pause in action to give Truman a 21-19 lead but Southwestern scored five straight and six of the last seven points to come from behind to win 25-22.

Set 3 (SWOKSU 25-18)

The enemy Bulldogs used the momentum from set two and carried it over to start set three with a 10-2 start aided by four service aces. Truman tried to chip away late and closed to within 23-17 before Southwestern put the match away.

Truman State (2), Missouri Southern (3)

The Bulldogs went the distance but came up short in a five-set match with host Missouri Southern in match two of the day. Annabelle Crowder led Truman with 15 kills with Jessica Proszenyak adding 10 and Hanna Berry seven.

Set 1 (TSU 25-16)

After trailing the opening stanza 5-2, the Bulldogs scored four straight to take their first lead of the match. Two more four-point rallies had Truman up 15-9 at the midway point.  The Bulldogs had three service aces with Ainsley Heise setting up match point with one late in the set. 

Set 2 (MSSU 25-23)

Teams exchanged points to start the match before Truman scored seven of eight to go up 11-6. Southern rallied for four straight and then fired off six of seven to take an 18-14 advantage. MSSU would lead 24-17 before the Bulldogs stormed back to make things interesting. Truman scored five straight forcing a timeout and scored on a kill by Allison Beaton to pull to within one at 24-23. A kill by Kierson Maydew pushed the Lions over the top. 

Set 3 (TSU 25-20)

After a back-and-forth start, Truman took control of the set after trailing 15-13. The Bulldogs reeled off nine of the next 10 points to go up 21-17. After cutting the lead down to 22-20, a service error by Southern gave the Bulldogs a key point to finish off the set.

Set 4 (MSSU 25-16)

Another tight set was finally broken open by the Lions. With Southern up 13-11, three straight points gave the home squad the cushion they needed and they scored the final six points of the set to force the fifth.

Set 5 (MSSU 15-10)

Southern gave up the first point but scored the next three and led 9-4 to force a Bulldog timeout. The Lions were able to hold Truman at bay to pick up their second straight 5-set win of the tournament.