Box Score September 23, 2016 - The Emporia State volleyball team fell in four sets (18-25, 26-24, 13-25, 20-25) to Fort Hays on Friday night to fall to 7-7 on the season, 0-2 in the MIAA.
There were six tied scores in the first 16 points of set one before a tied 8-8 score after a kill from Tatum Graves. Fort Hays took the lead and would maintain a three-to-four point lead until a 6-0 run that gave them a 22-15 advantage over Emporia State. The Hornets answered with a 3-0 run before the Tigers finished on a 3-0 run to win set one 18-25.
The largest lead by either team in set two was four points at a Fort Hays 11-7 advantage after an Emporia State attack error. The Hornets went on a 6-0 run that included two Julia Joseph aces and two Joseph kills to give them a 13-11 lead over the Tigers. After four more tied scores, Emporia State took the lead 20-18 and would keep that lead until Fort Hays went on a 4-1 run to tie the game 23-23. Josie Williams answered with a kill to take a 24-23 lead and the first set point. Callie Christensen responded with a kill for the Tigers to tie the game for the final time at 24-24. Emporia State finished with back-to-back kills from Williams and Danika Burton to win 26-24.
Fort Hays had an early 9-4 lead before Emporia State took its first timeout in set three. The Tigers ran with the lead to win set three 25-13 and take a 2-1 set advantage over the Hornets. In the fourth set, the two teams battled back-and-forth before Fort Hays went on a 4-1 run to take an 11-7 lead and force an Emporia State timeout. The Hornets had a 5-0 run coming out of the timeout to take a 12-11 lead. The Tigers answered again with a 5-0 run of their own to take a 16-12 lead. Fort Hays led the rest of the set to win 25-20.
Graves and Joseph led the Hornets with eight kills a piece. Graves had three block assists while Joseph had nine digs. Shayla Cotman had seven kills on a team high .294 hitting percentage with four blocks. Williams had six kills and seven digs. Kimberly Bell led with 21 assists followed by Dixon with 13 assists. Kelly Holden had a match high 19 digs while both her and Joseph had two aces. Danika Burton had four blocks and Taylor Otting added another eight digs.
Emporia State will travel to Kearney, Neb. to face the #3 Lopers on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 6:00 p.m. in the Health and Sports Center.
