August 24, 2018- Emporia State Volleyball opens the 2018 season 1-1 on day one at the Lady Buffs Classic. The Hornets regrouped in set five to take the 3-2 win over Eastern New Mexico after leading 2-0 after set two. The Hornets fell 3-1 to Lubbock Christian in their second match of the day.
Eastern New Mexico
Set one was close to the end with neither team leading by more than three points. The Hornets rallied late to score the final four points in the set and take the 26-24 set win. The Hornets took control of set two early with a 4-0 run to start and would never lead by less than two in the set on the way to a 25-20 victory.
The Greyhounds gained control in sets three and four taking each set 25-14 over the Hornets. The Hornets trailed 6-8 in set five before a kill by Mikayla Simons and three Greyhounds attack errors gave the Hornets the lead and forced a timeout from Eastern New Mexico. The Hornets held on to the lead and took the set 15-11 and the match 3-2 over the Greyhounds.
The Hornets were led by Taylor Otting with a .292 hitting percentage with 10 kills and 13 digs for a double-double. Yuchen Du also recorded a double-double for the Hornets with 22 assists and 10 digs. Tatum Graves led the Hornets in kills with 13 while Aliyah Bernard added nine. Allie Maloney led the Hornets with 15 digs.
Lubbock Christian
In the second match of the day Lubbock Christian was able to take control of the match early with a 5-0 run after being tied at 8-8. The Hornets were unable to overcome the deficit falling 25-19 in set one. In set two the Hornets started off with a kill from Shelby Innes and an ace from Julia Joseph but were unable to hold the lead for long as the Lady Chaps used a 10-4 run to spark a 25-15 set win.
After trailing 8-4 in set three the Hornets used a 7-1 run to force an LCU timeout and would not relinquish the lead in the set going on to win 25-20 to bring the match to 2-1 in favor of LCU. In set four the Hornets held a close lead battling back and forth through most of the set with the Lady Chaps. LCU was able to tie the set at 15-15 on their way to a five point run in which they took the lead 17-15 over the Hornets. The Hornets efforts proved not enough as they fell 25-21 in set four and 3-1 in the match.
The Hornets were led by Tatum Graves with a .423 hitting percentage and 12 kills while Jamie Hauptman had 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .400. Taylor Otting added nine kills while Shelby Innes had five. Emma Dixon led the Hornets with 26 assists and Allie Maloney led with 16 digs.
The Hornets will be back in action on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. as they take on the host school of West Texas A&M on day two of the Lady Buffs Classic.
