September 4, 2026 – Emporia State volleyball used a comeback win in a five-set thriller to complete a sweep of their two matches on Friday at the USF Classic, defeating UMary in three before defeating Augustana in the nightcap at the Sanford Pentagon.
ESU 3, MARY 0
The first set between the Hornets and Marauders was back and forth early on, with Emporia State leading 13-11 midway through. However, the Hornets eventually created some distance on their way to a 25-18 win in the first.
In the second, UMary opened up on a 7-1 scoring run, but the Hornets quickly scored five straight in return to trim the deficit to one. The lead changed hands twice in the middle of set two and eventually the score was tied 19-19. Emporia State was able to put the set away with six of the final eight points to establish the 2-0 lead.
Similar to the first two, set three was back and forth early on, but the Hornets eventually gained control and rolled from a slim 12-11 advantage to a 25-15 win in the third.
A LOOK AT THE STATS
Piper Bahr was the lone Hornet in double figures with 11 kills, while Mia Frisbie and Delainee Dexter each had seven. As a team, the Hornets hit .303 in the match and committed just 11 attack errors.
ESU 3, AUGIE 2
In Friday's nightcap, Emporia State's match followed a similar script to their first match of the USF Classic on Thursday night. The Hornets took set one against Augie 25-20, as they hit .333.
Over the next two sets, Emporia State struggled to limit the Viking attack, as the hosts hit .417 in set two and .353 in set three on their way to take a 2-1 lead over the Hornets.
In set four, Augie's momentum from sets two and three continued early on, as the Vikings scored the first four points. After the Hornets scored four of five, the Vikings again scored four in a row to build a 9-4 advantage. The hosts continued to lead until Emporia State, down 17-16, scored four straight of their own to take a 20-17 lead. The runs continued, as Augie rallied back to tie the frame 22-22, but the Hornets fended off the Vikings with three in a row to win set four 25-22.
Augustana again got out in front of the Hornets in the fifth, taking a 5-1 lead before extending the lead to 9-4. Following a pair of points by both sides, the Vikings were four points from taking the match. Emporia State was able to flip the momentum, scoring six of the next seven to rally back and tie the set at 12-12. The Vikings picked up back-to-back kills and were set up with match point up 14-12. However, the Hornets answered with four straight points to fend off two match points and win the set 16-14, sealing the five-set win.
A LOOK AT THE STATS
Four Hornets tallied double-digit kills with Piper Bahr tallying 12, Delainee Dexter and Maja Kiosk adding 11 and Mia Frisbie tallying 10 on .588 hitting. Dexter had 15 assists while Brailee Bogle had 33 of her own.
UP NEXT
Emporia State will wrap up the USF Classic on Saturday, September 5 against Upper Iowa. First serve at the Stewart Center is set for 1:00 p.m.
