Mark Twain Building/Chuck Smith Court | Missouri St. Louis Tritons
Mark Twain Building/Chuck Smith Court | Missouri St. Louis Tritons
The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team secured a win in its home opener, defeating Illinois Springfield in three straight sets on Friday at the Mark Twain Building. The Tritons improved their season record to 10-4 overall and 3-0 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), while the Prairie Stars fell to 6-7 overall and 0-3 in conference play.
Illinois Springfield began the first set with a quick lead, going up 5-2. However, Missouri-St. Louis responded with a decisive run, scoring 14 consecutive points to establish an 11-point advantage after Iyannah Jackson recorded a kill. UIS briefly interrupted the momentum with a kill from Kaitlyn Taylor, but UMSL added another seven unanswered points for a commanding 23-6 lead following a kill by Bridget Cassady.
After a service error, UMSL closed out the set with another kill from Jackson, then Jackson and Caitlin Bishop combined for a block against Makenna Cox to secure the set victory.
In the second set, UMSL went on another significant run midway through, outscoring UIS 10-3 to take a 13-6 lead after Maggie Johnson’s kill. UIS narrowed the gap to five points but could not close further as UMSL finished strong by scoring 12 of the final 19 points for a 25-15 win.
The Tritons started quickly in the third set as well, leading by four early and stretching their advantage to six at 13-7 after another Johnson kill. UIS made a late push, coming within three points at 19-16 following an ace from Tuana Yuce, but UMSL ended the match with a final surge for a 25-19 victory.
UMSL posted an attack percentage of .352 for the match with 49 kills and only 12 errors on 105 attempts. Alayna Santel led all players with 13 kills; Maggie Johnson contributed ten kills and Hannah Copeland added nine. Caitlin Bishop had 42 assists while Lydia Hartman recorded a career-high fifteen digs; Jackson also contributed three blocks.
On defense, UMSL limited Illinois Springfield to an attack percentage of .096—allowing just twenty-three kills against fourteen errors on ninety-four attempts. For UIS, Makenna Cox led her team with seven kills; Erica Sledge added six kills along with fourteen assists and seven digs.
Missouri-St. Louis will continue its homestand Saturday when it hosts Quincy at the Mark Twain Building for Alumni Day at 3 p.m., following Quincy’s straight-set win over McKendree on Friday.
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