August 26, 2022 – Emporia State volleyball opened their season on Friday at the UMSL Tournament against Missouri-St. Louis and Saint Leo.
Game One
The Hornets started their season off against the host Tritons. Much of the first set was back and forth before UMSL scored the final nine points to take the first set 25-18. Emporia State responded with a strong second set that consisted of both tteams trading points for much of the set. After falling down 24-23 and on set point, the Hornets responded with three straight points to take the set on two
Shelby Ebert kills followed by an Ebert ace.
The Tritons were able to claim the final two sets against the Hornets and took the season opening match 3-1.
Orianna Clements led the Hornet attack with ten kills and a .333 hitting percentage.
Shelby Ebert added nine kills while adding three aces and 13 digs in defense.
Riley Bernskoetter tallied 21 assists in the season opener.
Game Two
Emporia State came out quickly in their second match, taking a 7-2 advantage over Saint Leo. The Lions would trim the deficit to 15-11 in the middle of the set before the Hornets would rattle off six straight points to open a ten-point led. The Hornets used their momentum to take the first set 25-19.
Saint Leo was able to respond from the Hornets' strong start, and were able to take three consecutive sets as Emporia State fell in four sets.
In attack,
Leah Mach,
Shelby Ebert, and
Orianna Clements all tallied eight kills.
Riley Bernskoetter recorded 17 assists in the second match of the day and
Megan Stretton led the way in defense with 21 digs for the Hornets.
Emporia State will take on Southern Arkansas on Saturday at 9:00 a.m. before playing their final game of the UMSL Tournament against Missouri S&T Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.
