October 14, 2016-Emporia State jumped out to a 2-0 lead and then held on for a 3-2 victory - 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 16-25, 15-10 - on Friday night in St. Joseph, Mo.
OUT EARLY
The Hornets jumped out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set and never looked back on the way to a 25-20 win. Josie Williams had five kills on .500 hitting with two blocks in the opening frame.
SECOND SET, SAME AS THE FIRST
After giving up the first point, Emporia State rattled off a 10-3 run to go up 10-4 in the second set. They post another 25-20 win as Williams again hit .500 on ten attempts for five kills.
GRIFFONS GET BACK IN
It was Missouri Western's turn to get out to the good start in the third set. They opened up with a 9-2 run and had a eight point lead at 18-10. The Hornets battled back with an 8-0 run fueled by two kills and a block assist from Danika Burton. The set would be tied at 18, 19 and 22 before the Griffons closed out with a 3-1 ru to take the 25-23 win.
OWN WORST ENEMY
The fourth set was tied at 8-8 when Missouri Western went on an 8-0 run to take control. The Griffons had three aces and the Hornets had a bad set for half of the points during the run. The teams played even the rest of the set as Western forced a fifth set with a 25-16 win.
WINNER TAKE ALL
Like the fourth, the fifth set was tied at 8-8 when a team went on a decisive run. This time it was the Hornets with the 6-0 run led by Shayla Cotman's kill, block assist and solo block as Emporia State took a 14-8 lead. The Griffons would fight off two match points before Tatum Graves ended the match with a kill for the 15-10 win.
THE NUMBERS
Josie Williams led Emporia State with 17 kills on .326 hitting and added nine digs. She had 12 of her kills in the three wins. Taylor Otting joined her in double figures with ten kills on .269 hitting. Kelly Holden, who was not able to play the last two matches for the Hornets due to clinicals for her nursing major, led Emporia State with 18 digs and Allie Maloney added 16 digs. Setter Kimberly Bell and Emma Dixon each had double-doubles with 19 assists and ten digs. Tatum Graves was three of four on kills in the fifth set on the way to six kills for the match.
UP NEXT
The Hornets will continue their road trip on Saturday against #17 Northwest Missouri. First serve from Bearcat Arena in Maryville, Mo. is set for 6:00 p.m.
