BOLIVAR, Mo. – The first victory of 2024 remained elusive for the Truman State Volleyball team after dropping two matches in play at the SBU Invitational.
 
Saturday opened with the Bulldogs rallying to get to the fourth set against Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) University, falling 3-1, but Truman State found itself on the losing end of its seventh five-set match of the season against Missouri Southern State University to weekend competition,
 
Great Lakes Valley Conference play begins at 3 p.m. Saturday, September 28, at Upper Iowa University in Fayette, Iowa.
 
Truman State 1, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 3
The Bulldogs fell short of forcing a deciding fifth set after being down 2-0 and fell to Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 3-1.
 
Truman State held a two-point lead late in Set 1, but Ouachita Baptist won eight of the next nine points to take the one-set lead. Jessica Proszenyak provided kills on two separate occasions, but Truman State could not stop the Tiger run.
 
Ouachita Baptist climbed out to a 10-2 lead in Set 2 with the Bulldog attack able to string together consecutive points only once in the set on back-to-back Proszenyak kills. The Tigers took Set 2 by a 25-11 margin.
 
Set 3 saw the Bulldogs start to pull away climbing to a 9-5 lead on a Michaela Goad kill assisted by Emma Baierl. The lead widened to 14-7 with kills from Baierl and Proszenyak and an ace from Goad.
 
Truman kept at Ouachita Baptist, getting to a 14-13 lead on another Goad-Baierl connection before allowing four-straight points. The Tigers never looked back and ended things on a kill from the Kailey Thedford and a 25-22 final.
 
Goad and Proszenyak recorded 17 and 15 kills, respectively, with 25 assists from Baierl. Middle blockers redshirt freshman Makayla Way and freshman Hannah Hosty notched three blocks each.
 
Missouri Southern State University 3, Truman State 2
Missouri Southern denied Truman State its first victory of the season after allowing the Bulldogs back into a match that went five sets.
 
Set 1 went to the Purple and White when consecutive kills from Goad and Proszenyak put away the Lions 27-25. Tied at 12 in Set 2, Missouri Southern started a five-point run and built a 17-12 lead that proved to be too much for the Bulldogs to overcome. Kills from Erickson and Hosty, teamed with a Goad service ace, allowed the 'Dogs to get within one in Set 3, but the Lion attack scored three unanswered to extend their match lead to 2-1.
 
Proszenyak broke an 18 all tie in Set 4 with assist to Tori Creason, and Truman State would score seven of the next 11 points to force Set 5. Kills during the run came from Proszenyak, Goad, and Baierl with Addy Janssen notching a service ace.
 
A Goad kill set the score at 8-6, Missouri Southern, but the Lions outscored Truman State 7-3 on the way to a 15-9 Set 5 win.