September 22, 2018- Emporia State defeated Lindenwood 3-2 on Saturday in St. Charles, Mo. The Hornets used late momentum to take the win on the road.
After jumping out to a 7-3 lead to start the first set, the Hornets let the Lions back into the set with a steady attack. The Lions took their first lead of the set at 15-14 during a 5-0 run as they push to a 18-14 lead. The Hornets were unable to get back into the set as they fell 25-19 in the first set.
The Hornets took the lead early in set two at 7-6 and would not look back as they took an 11-2 run from trailing 6-5 to leading 15-8. The Hornets stayed on the attack in the set to go on for a 25-16 set win to tie the match at 1-1. The Hornets jumped out to an early 7-1 lead, but Lindenwood regained the home momentum in the match with an 11-2 run to take the lead 12-9 over the Hornets. The Lions pushed their lead to 16-11 before the Hornets made a 4-0 run to get back into the set at 16-15 but were unable to gain the lead. The Hornets brought the game to a tie at 22-22 before taking the lead at 23-22. The Lions would score four of the last five points to take the set 26-24 and take the match lead 2-1.
The Hornets jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in set four and would not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set. The Hornets used two separate runs to extend their lead to 17-7 and stayed on the attack through a 25-13 set win to tie the match at 2-2. In the final set of the match, the Hornets gained the lead early at 4-2 before the Lions brought it back to a tie at 5-5. The two teams battled back and forth with seven ties and two lead changes to the end of the set as the Hornets took the win 15-13 and the match 3-2.
The Hornets were led by Taylor Otting with a double-double of 20 kills and 19 digs.. Yuchen Du joined Otting in double digit kills with 12 along with Julia Joseph with 10. Allie Maloney had a team high 24 digs for the Hornets while Emma Dixon led the Hornets with 30 assists.
The Hornets will be back in action on September 28 at 6:00 p.m. as they take on Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, KS.
