September 30, 2016 - The Emporia State volleyball team swept Missouri Southern, 25-18, 25-14, 25-18, Friday night for their first home game of the season. This was also the Hornets' first MIAA win to move to 1-3 in the conference.
There were five tied scores in the first set before Emporia State went on a 5-1 run to take a 11-7 lead and force a Missouri Southern timeout. The Lions scored out of the timeout to trail 11-8, but that is the closest they would get as the Hornets cruised to a 25-18 set one win. Emporia State held Missouri Southern to a .029 hitting percentage in the first set.
The Lions had an early 3-1 jump in set two before the Hornets answered with a 4-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. Missouri Southern tied it again at 5-5 before another Emporia State 4-0 run to take a 9-5 lead and force a Lion timeout. A huge 7-2 run by the Hornets gave them a 16-8 advantage when the gap was closed 17-13 by the Lions. Missouri Southern only scored one more point from that point on as Emporia State won set two 25-14.
The Hornets grabbed an early 4-1 lead in set three before the Lions came back to tie the set 6-6. Emporia State took a 9-6 lead before Missouri Southern went on a 6-1 run to take a 12-10 lead. A Hornet 8-0 run gave them an 18-12 advantage, one that secured the match. Emporia State claimed the set 25-18 and the match for their first conference win. The Hornets allowed only nine Lion kills on nine errors for a .000 hitting percentage in the third set.
The Hornets had five players with seven or more kills, Josie Williams leading with a match high 11 kills on a .393 hitting percentage with no errors. Danika Burton and Julia Joseph joined with eight kills each, Burton with a .500 hitting percentage. Jamie Hauptman and Shayla Cotman added another seven kills a piece, Hauptman also with a .500 hitting percentage. Kimberly Bell had 19 assists joined by Emma Dixon with 18 assists. Allie Maloney had a season high, and match high, 27 digs in three sets to average nine digs per set. Shayla Cotman had five total blocks followed by Tatum Graves and Danika Burton with three blocks each. Emporia State held Missouri Southern to a .043 hitting percentage on the night and had 45 kills to their 25 kills.Â
Emporia State will host Southwest Baptist Saturday, Oct. 1 at William L. White Auditorium. First serve will be at 7:00 p.m.
