September 7, 2019-Emporia State closed out the Washburn Invitational with a 3-0 sweep of Quincy to go 3-1 on the opening weekend of the volleyball season.
 
The Hawks jumped out to a 3-1 lead to start the match but the Hornets responded with a quick 3-0 run to take 4-3 lead.  The match stayed close until Emporia State closed it out with a 9-1 run to take a 25-17 victory.
 
Emporia State used another late run in the second set to take control.  Trailing 17-15 the Hornets got six straight points to take a 21-17 lead before coasting to the 25-22 win.
 
The third set was tight throughout with neither team scoring more than two consecutive points after a 7-7 tie.  With the score tied at 23, the Hornets got a bad set by Quincy to force match point and Aliyah Bernard ended the match with a kill.
 
Aliyah Bernard led Emporia State with 12 kills on .391 hitting with one solo and three assisted blocks.  Yuchen Du added 11 kills.  Mikayla Simons had six kills a solo and six block assists as the Hornets finished the three set match with 12 blocks. Emma Dixon ended with 30 assists and a team high 11 digs.
 
Bernard and Du were both named to the All-Tournament team.
 
The Hornets will travel to the foot of the Rocky Mountains next weekend to take part in the Mountain Lion Invitational hosted by UC-Colorado Springs.