Box Score October 7, 2016 - The Emporia State volleyball team lost in three straight sets (24-26, 23-25, 15-25) Friday night at home against Fort Hays. The Hornets drop to 9-10 on the season and 2-5 in the MIAA.
The Hornets took an early 5-0 lead on the Tigers in the first set, forcing Fort Hays to take a timeout. Emporia State maintained the lead when Fort Hays went on a 5-1 run to close the gap to an 8-7 Hornet advantage. Emporia State answered with their own 5-1 run to take a 13-8 lead. A 6-2 run by the Tigers closed the gap again to a 15-14 Hornet advantage. Fort Hays would not take another timeout until an Emporia State 3-0 run ending in back-to-back kills from Taylor Otting. The Tigers came out of the timeout with a 4-1 run to get within 21-20 when the Hornets took a timeout. Fort Hays tied the set out of the timeout from a Hornet attack error. Shayla Cotman responded with a kill of her own to regain the lead 22-21 for Emporia State. A 4-2 run by Fort Hays forced Emporia State to take another timeout, trailing 25-24. Megan Anderson finished the set for the Tigers, 26-24, on a kill. Emporia State had a .148 hitting percentage in the first set compared to Fort Hays' .129 hitting percentage. Allie Maloney had 14 digs after set one.
There were four tied scores in the first ten points of set two before the Tigers went on a 5-1 run to take a 10-6 lead. Fort Hays kept that lead until Emporia State tied it up at 14-14 on a 4-0 run, forcing a Tiger timeout. Fort Hays went on their own 4-0 run out of the timeout to force a Hornet timeout and take the lead 18-14. Emporia State would tie the set up again at 19-19 after a 5-1 run, Fort Hays taking their second timeout of the set. After the Tigers took a 21-19 lead, the Hornets gained a 22-21 lead when Fort Hays made three errors in a row. Crystal Whitten had back-to-back kills to put the Tigers ahead 23-22, the Hornets taking their second timeout. A solo block from Cotman tied the game again at 23-23 before Fort Hays took the set 25-23 on back-to-back kills. Emporia State was held to only nine kills in set two.
In the third and final set, Fort Hays got a 10-5 lead before Emporia State took a timeout. The Tigers would keep that lead and finish set three 25-15 over the Hornets to take the game. Fort Hays had no attack errors in the third set.
There were four Hornets with six or more kills against the Tigers, led by Josie Williams with nine kills. Cotman, Otting and Jamie Hauptman each had six kills. Cotman had a solo block and four block assists joined by Williams with three block assists. Maloney had a match high 24 digs. Williams joined in double figure digs with 14 digs. Emma Dixon nearly missed a double double with 17 assists and nine digs followed by Kimberly Bell with 16 assists. The Hornets had six team blocks on the night.
Emporia State will host #3 Neb.-Kearney on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 3:00 p.m. in White Auditorium. The Lopers are 20-0 on the season, 6-0 in the MIAA.
