Box Score Saturday, October 1 - The Hornets beat the Bearcats in four sets, 25-14, 25-19, 19-25, 25-19, Saturday night to end their home debut weekend 2-0, improving to 9-8 on the season and 2-3 in the MIAA.
In set one, Southwest Baptist would remain within four points of Emporia State through the first 20 points. The Hornets went on a 8-2 run thanks to three Josie Williams kills and three Tatum Graves kills to take a 17-10 lead. The Bearcats would score only four more points before Emporia State claimed set one 25-14. The Hornets never trailed in set one with only a single tied score at 1-1. Emporia State had 17 kills on a .444 hitting percentage with only one error in the first set.
Emporia State maintained a lead of no more than three points in the second set through the first 17 points. A 7-2 run gave the Hornets a 16-10 lead when a 5-1 run by the Bearcats closed the gap to a 18-15 Emporia State advantage. The Hornets answered with their own 5-1 run to take a 22-16 lead which led to a set 25-19 win. Emporia State held Southwest Baptist to a .047 hitting percentage in the second set. Again, in set two, the Hornets never gave up the lead and only tied once at 1-1.
The Bearcats took their first lead, 3-2, of the night in set three after a Hornet attack error. Emporia State reacted with a 6-1 run to take a 8-4 lead that included three Hornet blocks, all involving Danika Burton. Southwest Baptist then answered with a 6-0 run to force an Emporia State timeout, taking their largest lead of the night up to that point at 10-8. After the timeout, the Bearcats went on another run, this time a 5-1 run to maintain a 15-9 lead. The Hornets would get within four but eventually the match went to the Bearcats 25-19.
Emporia State jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in set four, continuing the run to take a 11-3 lead. Southwest Baptist scored five in a row to close the gap 11-8 before the Hornets took a timeout. Emporia State maintained the lead following the timeout and did not let the Bearcats get any closer than three points, winning set four 25-19 and the match 3-1.
The two middle hitters led the Hornets against the Bearcats. Burton and Shayla Cotman each had ten kills, Cotman with a .444 hitting percentage. Burton had eight digs, one solo block and four block assists. Cotman had one solo block and three block assists. Tatum Graves joined the middles with ten kills on a .370 hitting percentage and no errors. Graves also had four block assists. Williams had seven kills, Jamie Hauptman with six kills and Julia Joseph added five kills. Kimberly Bell led all players with 23 assists followed by Emma Dixon with 20 assists. Allie Maloney had a match high 25 digs with three aces, Kelly Holden adding another 17 digs. The two setters combined for 15 digs. Emporia State had ten team blocks on the night.
Emporia State will host #18 Washburn University on Tuesday, Oct. 4 to continue their five game home stand. The Turnpike Tussle will be at 7:00 p.m. in William L. White Auditorium.
