Emporia State Volleyball sweeps their way to third straight win

October 20, 2023-Emporia State ran their MIAA winning streak to three matches with a 3-0 sweep of Missouri Southern on Friday night in White Auditorium. It is their longest MIAA winning streak since winning three straight in the 2018 season.
 
The Hornets jumped out to a 5-2 lead and were never threatened in the opening set as they cruised to a 25-13 win.  Emporia State hit .385 in the opening set with Sandora Sasaki following up her 32 kill performance with seven kills on .417 hitting in the opener.
 
The second set was tighter with six ties and two lead changes through the first 28 points.  With the score tied 14-14, the Hornets closed the set on an 11-2 run. Brailee Bogle and McKenya Sorrells had two kills and block assist each during the run as Emporia State went up 2-0 with a 25-16 lead.
 
Neither team would take more than a three point lead in the third set that saw 14 ties and six lead changes.  Emporia State led 4-2 when the Lions went on a 4-0 run to take a 6-4 lead.  The Hornets answered with a 3-1 run to tie the score at 7-7. With the set knotted at 13, Emporia State took the lead on an attack error by Southern and went up 16-3 on back to back kills by Tasiah Nunnery and KcKenya Sorrells and forced a timeout by the Lions. Emporia State was forced to call a timeout of their own after a three straight MSSU points tied the game at 16. The Lions took the lead at  21-19 on a Hornet attack error. ESU challenged the call of no touch on the attack but it was confirmed.  After the delay for the challenge the Hornets went on a 4-0 run that started and ended with kills from Sasaki to give ESU a 23-21 lead. The teams traded points until Camilla Ossola ended the match with a kill for the 25-23 win.
 
Sandora Sasaki had her fourth 20 kill match of the season with 20 kills on 46 attempts with just three errors for a .370 hitting percentage.  Camilla Ossola had nine kills on .353 hitting and matched Anakaren Chavez with a team high 14 digs.  Braile Bogle had 32 assists as Emporia State hit .327 as a team on the night.
 
Emporia State is back in action on Saturday afternoon when they play host to Central Missouri. First serve in White Auditorium is set for 2:00 p.m.
 
NOTES:
Sasaki has now reached double figures in 20 straight matches to open the season. It is the longest such streak by a Hornet since Arica Shepard reached double figures in the final 28 matches of the 2009 season. It is the longest streak to start a season by a Hornets since the NCAA moved to 25 point sets in 2008.
Sasaki is now ranked sixth on the Emporia State single season list for 20+ kill matches with four.