August 31, 2018- Emporia State Volleyball fell in straight sets to Sioux Falls to open the Rockhurst Classic in Kansas City, Mo. on Friday. In the second match of the day, the Hornets fell 3-1 to William Jewell. The Hornets are slated to play two games on Saturday to wrap up the tournament.
Vs. Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls jumped out to an early lead with an 8-1 run to open the first set. The Hornets were unable to recover in set one, falling 25-11 to the Cougars. In the second set the Cougars started on a 9-2 run and were able to maintain the lead over the Hornets to a 25-16 set win to take the lead 2-0 in the match. The Cougars took control of the third set early with a 7-0 run to take the lead 10-3 over the Hornets and held the lead to a 25-14 set win to take the match 3-0.
The Hornets were led by Tatum Graves and Jamie Hauptman each with five kills in the match followed by Taylor Otting and Yuchen Du with four kills each. Emma Dixon and Jennica Smith each had eight assists in the match while Allie Maloney led the Hornets with six digs.
Vs. William Jewell
In the first set the Cardinals took a 9-5 lead early in the set. The Hornets were able to rally to within three points at 22-19 before the Cardinals finished the set with the last three points to win 25-19. Trailing 13-11 in set two the Hornets took a 7-0 run to take the lead 18-13 and would not relinquish the lead again on the way to a 25-21 set win to tie the match at 1-1.
The Cardinals took an early lead in set three and the Hornets were unable to regain control in the set as the Cardinals took set three 25-22 to take the 2-1 match lead. The Hornets took the early lead in set three before seven ties and three lead changes gave the Cardinals the lead at 15-14. The Hornets were unable to regain the lead as the Cardinals took the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
The Hornets were led by Yuchen Du with 13 kills followed by Tatum Graves with 11. Emma Dixon led the Hornets with 25 assists while Du was just one assist shy of a double-double with nine. Allie Maloney led the Hornets with 30 digs while Julia Joseph added 20 digs.
Emporia State will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Colorado Mesa and Rockhurst in their final two games of the Rockhurst Classic.
