North STL News

The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team secured a 3-2 victory over Quincy University in a closely contested five-set match on Saturday at the Mark Twain Building. With this win, the Tritons improved their season record to 11-4 overall and remain undefeated in Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) play at 4-0. The Hawks now stand at 12-3, with a conference record of 3-1.

UMSL overcame a 2-1 deficit to extend its home winning streak to 29 matches. The opening set saw the Tritons take an early lead, but Quincy responded to go ahead before UMSL regained control and won the set 25-18.

In the second set, Quincy built a five-point advantage late in the frame, but UMSL rallied to tie it at 23 following an ace from Skylar Weaver. Despite reaching set point after kills by both teams, Quincy ultimately took the set 27-25.

The third set featured eight ties and two lead changes. UMSL led by three points during the stanza, but Quincy closed out with four straight points for a 25-22 win.

UMSL responded strongly in the fourth set, hitting .250 while holding Quincy to a negative attack percentage. After building a nine-point lead, they held off a late push from Quincy and won the set 25-19.

The deciding fifth set was tightly contested with neither side leading by more than two points. UMSL trailed late but came back with key plays from Alayna Santel and Iyannah Jackson. A service error by Quincy's Elena Kasavica gave UMSL match point at 16-15, which they converted after Jackson and Maggie Johnson combined for a block that sealed the victory at 17-15.

UMSL finished with a .257 hitting percentage and recorded 71 kills against 22 errors on 191 attempts. Santel led with 18 kills; Bridget Cassady added 17; Jackson had 15; and Johnson contributed 14 kills. Caitlin Bishop registered a career-high of 66 assists. Defensively, Jackson, Santel, and Hannah Copeland each had five blocks while Weaver posted a match-high of 28 digs.

Quincy ended with an attack percentage of .172 and totaled 66 kills against their own tally of errors across more attempts than UMSL. Martina Beretti led all players with her game-high of 23 kills; Janelle Pye-Blacknard added both offensive production (15 kills) and defensive contributions (23 digs); Zeynep Cetin finished with double-digit kills as well; Kasavica notched up assists for her team while Selin Turgut contributed four blocks.

UMSL will next play Upper Iowa on Friday in Fayette, Iowa.