September 16, 2022 - Emporia State took on #13 Northwest Missouri on Friday night from White Auditorium. The Hornets fell 3-0 against the Bearcats.
In the first set, the Hornets established the theme of the night as they battled the Bearcats throughout the entire set. Emporia State fell behind 5-1 early in the set before clawing back and taking an 11-10 lead. After both teams traded points and the Hornets were still leading 14-13, the Bearcats scored seven of the next eight points to take a 20-15 lead. Emporia State kept the margin from growing any larger but were unable to rally back and fell 25-20 in the first set.
The second set started in similar fashion with Northwest Missouri taking an early lead in the set before Emporia State rallied back with six of seven points to take a 10-8 advantage and force the Bearcats to call timeout. Northwest Missouri went on a small run of their own before the Hornets jumped back as the set was tied again at 21-21. The persistence from the Hornets was not enough in the second set as the Bearcats would go on to take the set 25-23 and claim a 2-0 lead in the match.
A third straight strong start from the Bearcats happened in the third set as the Hornets fell down 6-2 early on. After working back from another early deficit to trim the deficit to 15-13. Emporia State would score five straight points to gain an 18-15 advantage on the Bearcats. Northwest Missouri was able to rally from this point as they scored 10 of the next 13 points to clinch the set 25-21 and the match 3-0 over Emporia State.
Leah Mach led the way with 12 kills on the night.
Winny Harris had seven kills and hit .500 in the match.
Ainslee Stepp and
Riley Bernskoetter recorded 18 and 16 assists respectively.
Dorianne Lebron,
Orianna Clements, McKenya Sorrels and
Shelby Ebert each came away with two blocks on the night. Mach and
Megan Stretton each recorded 16 digs in defense for the Hornets.
Emporia State will hit the road as they travel to Liberty, Missouri for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday, September 20 against William Jewell. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.
