ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Truman State could not find a response to the UMSL hitters and fell, 3-0, Friday night.
The Tritons recorded 49 kills to 28 for the Bulldogs while also holding a 10-4 advantage in blocks.
Autumn Erickson led the way for the Purple and White notching nine kills on the match followed by
Makayla Way and
Jessie Julius at five each.
After opening Set 1 to a 4-4 tie, UMSL tallied five points in a row to open a lead of 8-4 before a kill by Way ended the run. The Bulldogs responded behind serving from
Addy Janssen with an ace and a Triton attack error allowed Truman State to climb within one. Neither team went on another run of more than two to a 15-15 tie when UMSL recorded its second five-point run in the set. The Bulldogs came as close as 22-20 off a kill from Erickson but could not recover and dropped set one, 25-22.
Truman State opened a 4-1 lead in Set 2 behind serving from
Emma Baierl and Julius before back-to-back service aces from
Michaela Goad widened the lead to 10-4. UMSL responded with a four-point run featuring a service ace, kill, and errors from the Bulldogs to climb back to within two. An Erickson kill gave the Purple and White a 16-14 lead, but attack errors and two Triton kills put the 'Dogs behind for the first time in the set, 17-16. A kill from Julius allowed the Bulldogs to get to 19-22, but UMSL closed out Set 2 taking five of seven points and the set, 25-20.
The Bulldogs got out to a 3-1 Set 3 lead with Way recording two kills early on before UMSL rattled off an eight-point run with four kills to open a 9-3 lead. The Purple and White started clawing back into set, trading points with the Tritons and getting to within four at 12-8 when three straight UMSL kills set the score at 15-8.
Jessica Proszenyak recorded a kill to end a three-point UMSL run, 18-10, then notched a service ace narrow the deficit to seven. At 18-11 the Tritons ripped off three consecutive kills and put the Bulldogs ten points behind, 21-11. Truman State recorded its last Set 3 point on a Proszenyak kill before UMSL finished off the match, 25-15.
The road trip continues at 3 p.m. tomorrow for Truman State, 5-18 overall, 2-6 GLVC, when it squares off against McKendree (Ill.) University in Lebanon, Ill.
