September 22, 2017- Emporia State opened MIAA conference play with a 3-1 victory at Fort Hays State (25-23, 16-25, 25-13, 25-23).
The Hornets went down 7-2 early in the first set but were able to battle back after a timeout to tie the set at 10-10. Set one was back and forth after that with neither team leading by more than three points the rest of the set. The Hornets finished on a 5-1 run to win 25-23 after being down 22-20 late in the set. Set two belonged to the Tigers after the set started out slow for both teams. After being tied at 8-8, the Tigers went on a 12-5 run to take the lead at 20-13 and would eventually finish the set 25-16 over the Hornets. The Hornets took back the momentum in set three when they opened the set 6-0 and never led by less than five in the remainder of the set. The Hornets biggest lead was 13 points at 23-10. Set four was a battle to the finish as neither team led by more than five points in the set. The Tigers held the lead until a tie score at 15-15 before the Hornets went on a 7-2 run to take the lead 22-17. Fort Hays went on a 4-0 run to bring the game within one point. After a timeout the Hornets finished the set 25-23.
The Hornets were led by Jamie Hauptman with 13 kills, while Karly Patton and Tatum Graves each added 11. Yuchen Du led Emporia State with 25 assists, followed by Emma Dixon with 19. Allie Maloney led the Hornets with 21 digs while Julia Joseph joined her in double digits with 10.
Emporia State will be back in action Saturday, September 23 as they take on #5 Nebraska Kearney in Kearney, Nebraska at 3:00 p.m.
