September 19, 2024 – Emporia State volleyball hit .240 in their match against Illinois-Springfield on Thursday night but fell 3-1 to open the PSU Regional Challenge.
In the first set, the Hornets hit .324 with just three errors but weren't able to gain an advantage on the Prairie Stars. Emporia State posted a 10-7 lead to force an Illinois-Springfield timeout but after the timeout, the Prairie Stars rallied to take a 17-14 lead of their own. After tying the set at 20-20, Illinois Springfield took control as they won the set 25-23 over Emporia State.
After an early lead for the Prairie Stars in set two, Emporia State gained control of the set with a 6-1 scoring run to build a 12-8 lead. Illinois-Springfield trimmed the lead to 18-16 late in the set before a 7-1 scoring run by the Hornets, capped off by two kills from
Camilla Ossola, clinched a 25-17 win in the second frame.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle between the Hornets and Prairie Stars which featured five lead changes and 15 ties. Emporia State held leads of 24-23 and 25-24 which both came after kills from
Rayishon Jackman, but the Hornets could not hold off UIS as the Hornets fell 28-26 in the third.
Rayishon Jackman finished the third with 12 kills in the set.
Emporia State struggled offensively in the fourth set in comparison to the first three, as their hitting percentage dropped from .299 to just .067 in the final set. The Hornets last lead came at 10-9 before the Prairie Stars outscored Emporia State 15-6 for the remainder of the set to take the match 3-1.
The Hornets were led by
Rayishon Jackman who tallied 25 kills and 28 digs in the match. The 25-25 performance by Jackman was the first such performance in the rally scoring era at Emporia State.
Brailee Bogle had 44 assists and recorded 11 digs, the fourth time in the first eight matches she has reached double-figures. Behind Jackman,
Sydney Fiatte had 19 digs,
Willow Deckinger had 12 and
Weronika Wrzesinska tallied 10 digs in the match.
Emporia State will continue the PSU Regional Challenge on Friday, September 20 as they take on Henderson State. First serve from Pittsburg is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
