TOPEKA, Kan. – SWOSU Volleyball split Friday's pair of matches at the Ichabod Classic, defeating Drury in a five-set thriller before falling to (rv) Missouri-St. Louis in four sets in the nightcap.
The Bulldogs will close out play in Kansas Saturday morning against No. 4 Washburn at 10 a.m.
SWOSU vs. Drury
W, 3-2 (26-24, 29-31, 25-21, 13-25, 15-13)
The Dawgs came away with a 3-2 victory over the Panthers for a fifth consecutive win and their first five-set victory of the season.
The match featured 33 ties and 11 lead changes.
SWOSU took a back-and-forth opening set after Drury erased a late deficit and tied the score at 24-24.
Katja Blanchat put the Bulldogs back in front with a kill before an attack error closed out the 26-24 win.
The second set featured 16 ties alone and stretched well beyond 25 points. SWOSU fought off multiple set points before Drury eventually prevailed 31-29 to even the match. The Bulldogs answered by taking the third 25-21, but Drury responded with a 25-13 fourth set to force a deciding fifth.
SWOSU saved its best response for the finish. The Bulldogs trailed 12-9 in the fifth before scoring three straight points to pull even. After Drury went back ahead 13-12, SWOSU scored the final three points of the match.
Jenna Houk delivered consecutive kills to give the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead before
Morgan Ritchie and Blanchat combined for a block on match point to complete the comeback.
Layla Collins led the offense with 19 kills, her most in her first season as a Bulldog, while adding three service aces and 11 digs. Houk recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 17 digs, and
Sydnee Winfrey finished with 11 kills while hitting .455.
Mackenzie Sims dished out 51 assists and added a career-high 24 digs.
Jada Permenter led SWOSU with 25 digs as the Bulldogs totaled 103 as a team.
SWOSU vs. (rv) Missouri-St. Louis
L, 3-1 (19-25, 17-25, 25-15, 16-25)
SWOSU returned to the court later Friday against a Missouri-St. Louis team receiving votes in the AVCA Division II poll, where the Bulldogs saw their five-match winning streak come to an end in a 3-1 loss.
The Bulldogs struggled to find an offensive rhythm early before putting together their best set of the match in the third. SWOSU totaled 16 kills with just two errors in the frame, hitting .538 to extend the match. The Bulldogs finished at .211 overall, nearly identical to UMSL's .212.
Collins again led the SWOSU attack with 13 kills while hitting .243, while Houk added nine kills. Blanchat finished with eight kills on a .313 hitting percentage and contributed five total blocks.
Permenter paced the defense with 20 digs. Sims added 13 digs to go along with 35 assists, while
Libbie Hughs chipped in six digs.
SWOSU finished with 12 total blocks compared to five from UMSL. Winfrey was involved in six blocks, while Blanchat added five and Sims contributed four.
