EMPORIA STATE GOES TO 2-0 ON THE SEASON WITH FOUR SET WIN OVER WILLIAM JEWELL

September 6, 2019-For the second straight match Emporia State dropped their first set only to come back and get a win as they defeated William Jewell 19-25,25-19,25-13,25-23 on Friday at the Washburn Invitational in Topeka, Kan.
 
The Hornets took advantage of four attack errors and a ball handling error by the Cardinals to take an early 5-2 lead.  William Jewell would answer with a 5-1 run of their own to go up 7-6. Neither team would take more than a three point lead until the Cardinals reeled off six of the last eight points to take a 25-19 win.
 
Emporia State never trailed in the second set, using a 6-1 run late to take control on the way to a 25-19 victory. 
 
William Jewell leapt out to a 4-1 lead in the third set only to see Emporia State score five straight point off Yuchen Du's serve to take a 6-4 lead. The Hornets would use an 8-1 run to take a 22-11 lead and coasted to a 25-13 win in the third.
 
It looked like the Hornets would need another five sets when the Cardinals took a 19-14 lead in the fourth.  But Emporia State scored six straight to go up 20-19 with the last two coming on kills by Du. The Hornets would go up 24-21 before settling for the 25-23 match clinching victory.
 
Mikayla Simons had a team high 14 kills on .444 hitting for Emporia State while Du had her second straight double-double with 12 kills and ten digs.
 
Emporia State will wrap up the opening weekend of action on Saturday when they take on #23 Central Washington at 11:30 a.m. and Quincy at 5:30 p.m. in Topeka.
 
NOTE
This is the first time the Hornets have gone 2-0 to start a season since they won their first four matches in 2014.