September 7, 2018- Emporia State Volleyball took wins in both matches on day one at the MIAA/GAC Challenge in Shawnee, Ok. The Hornets defeated East Central 3-0 and Oklahoma Baptist 3-2. The Hornets will travel to Edmond, Ok. to finish MIAA/GAC Challenge play on Saturday.
vs. ECU
The Hornets took control of the match early with a 25-14 set one win. The Hornets kept control of the match with a 5-0 run to start the second set and kept pushing through the set for a 25-9 win. In set three, the Hornets continued their streak with an 8-0 run to start the set followed by a 5-0 run after ECU scored their first point to take the lead 13-1. The Hornets would not allow the Tigers to come within 10 points on their way to a 25-13 set win to finish the match 3-0.
The Hornets were led by Yuchen Du with a double-double of 13 kills and 11 assists. Tatum Graves added 11 kills while Emma Dixon had 21 assists for the Hornets. Allie Maloney had 13 digs followed by Taylor Otting with 11 and Dixon rounding out her double-double with 10 digs.
vs. OKBU
The Hornets took control of the match early with a 12-3 run after trailing 3-2 in set one. Leading 14-6 the Hornets would not allow the Bison back closer than seven points on the way to a 25-17 set one win. Set two was a closer set through a score of 18-18 before the Hornets went on a 6-1 run which led to a 25-20 set win to take the lead at 2-0 in the match. The Bison fought back to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-22 set three win and a 25-21 set four win.
In set five the Bison took control with a 5-0 run after being tied at 6-6. The Hornets stormed back into the set with an 8-1 run to lead the set at 14-12. With five ties and two lead changes to end the set, the Hornets took the 20-18 set win to win the match 3-2 over the Bison.
The Hornets were led by Tatum Graves with 20 kills in the match while Yuchen Du recorded a triple-double with 14 kills, 28 assists and 16 digs. Emma Dixon led the Hornets with 30 assists while Allie Maloney led with 32 digs followed by Julia Joseph with 30 and Taylor Otting with 23.
The Hornets will be back in action on Saturday as they take on Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State in Edmond, Okla. to wrap up the MIAA/GAC Challenge.
