North STL News

The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team secured a 3-0 victory over Southwest Baptist at the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar, Missouri, on Saturday afternoon. With this win, the Tritons improved their season record to 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), while the Bearcats dropped to 3-10 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

UMSL posted a .316 hitting percentage for the match, tallying 46 kills against 15 errors on 98 attempts. Alayna Santel led the team with 11 kills, followed by Iyannah Jackson and Hannah Copeland who each contributed 10 kills.

Throughout the match, UMSL trailed only three times. In the first set, after holding a narrow lead at 13-12, UMSL went on a run to widen its advantage. Southwest Baptist managed to close the gap to within two points at 18-16 before UMSL closed out the set by scoring seven of the last ten points for a final score of 25-19. Maggie Johnson led with five kills in that set, while Santel and Copeland added four each.

In the second set, both teams were tied at nine before UMSL took control with an 8-1 run. Copeland sparked this sequence with three kills and combined with Santel for a block; Santel also recorded a kill during this stretch and Lydia Hartman added an ace. The Bearcats did not come closer than six points as UMSL won the set decisively at 25-13.

During the third set, UMSL hit .333 and maintained control throughout after starting with a quick four-point lead. The Tritons extended their lead to as many as twelve points before closing out the match with a score of 25-14 despite late efforts from Southwest Baptist.

Jackson had five kills in this final frame; Santel added four more while Copeland, Bridget Cassady, and Addison Voorhees each had two apiece.

Caitlin Bishop finished with 41 assists along with six digs and an ace. Santel also contributed four aces and three total blocks while Skylar Weaver recorded a match-high seventeen digs.

Defensively, UMSL limited Southwest Baptist to just twenty-two kills—the lowest allowed by UMSL this season—and held them to an attack percentage of .106.

UMSL will play its home opener against Illinois Springfield next Friday (October 3) at 6 p.m., hosted at the Mark Twain Building.