Kansas City
Bakersfield
Miller Sets Digs Mark, 'Roos Win School Record 21st Of Season
10/30/2014 10:13:00 PM | Volleyball
(Kansas City, Mo.) -- The Missouri-Kansas City volleyball team (21-3, 9-0) picked up its school record 21st win of the season and extended its school record win streak to 17 matches on Thursday night at the Swinney Recreation Center after beating Bakersfield (10-13, 6-4) 3-1 behind 36 digs from Taryn Miller that put her in the top stop on the UMKC career digs list.
In her career, the Blue Springs, Mo., native now has 1,630 digs, after recording the second most digs of her career and the second most in the WAC this season, trailing only her 38 against Miami, passing former 'Roo Nicole Kerkman's previous mark of 1,611. The 21 wins, meanwhile, surpass the 20 wins achieved by the 1999 squad.
For the 'Roos, Sydney Crimmins notched her ninth double-double of the season with 10 kills, a season-high tying 17 digs and five blocks and Nicole Wemhoff tallied he sixth double-double of the season with 20 assists and 12 digs, while Jessica Hendin registered a season-high 21 kills, nine digs and three blocks, narrowly missing her ninth double-double this season.
Bakersfield opened up the match with a 25-21 victory in the first set, but UMKC immediately responded with a 25-16 win in set two to even the match at one set apiece heading into the locker room. In the second set, the two squads were tied at 7-7 when the 'Roos reeled off three straight to take a 10-7 lead. The Roadrunners closed the gap to one at 11-10, but a 7-1 run pushed the lead to 18-11. CSUB would get no closer than six the rest of the way and two kills by Skyler Muff over the final three points gave UMKC the win.
In set three, UMKC opened up on a 4-0 run, but Bakersfield answered with a 10-2 stretch to go ahead 10-6. The two teams would split the next two points and the 'Roos followed with an 8-0 run that included a pair of aces by Wemhoff. The Runners would trim the margin to two on three separate occasions, including late at 23-21, but a kill from Taylor Buhrow and a block from Buhrow and Emma Hagedorn gave the 'Roos their first lead of the match with a 24-21 victory.
The 'Roos then went on to close out the match with a 25-21 fourth set win. The two teams battled throughout the set, as neither gained more than a two-point advantage until UMKC went on a 4-0 running leading 16-15 with Crimmins capping the rally with back-to-back aces. Bakersfield would close the gap to two at 21-19, but UMKC closed out the match with four of the final six points, including the final on a Hendin kill, to take the match.
As a team, the Kangaroos notched 16.5 blocks, finishing just a half block shy of their season-high and the WAC season-high, with middle hitters Hagedorn and Melissa Hartsel each recorded eight blocks.
UMKC's win, coupled with New Mexico State's win over Seattle, keeps the 'Roos advantage at 2.5 matches over the Aggies and moves their magic number to three for at least a share of the regular season WAC Championship.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again on Saturday when they welcome in Grand Canyon to the SRC for the annual Think Pink, Cheer Blue match at 7 p.m. in a WAC contest.
