Kansas City
Texas-Pan American
UMKC Volleyball Clinches Share Of First Ever Conference Ttitle
11/13/2014 9:39:00 PM | Volleyball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – The Missouri-Kansas City volleyball team (23-5, 11-2) clinched a share of its first ever conference title after knocking off Texas-Pan American (6-22, 2-11) 3-0 on Thursday evening at the Swinney Recreation Center, claiming a stake to the WAC regular season championship.
In the victory, the 'Roos hit .238 as a team with 10 blocks and limited the Broncs to just a .054 clip and one block, while setting the school record for conference wins and extending their school record for overall wins.
In the opening set, the two teams were tied early at 7-7, but an 8-0 run by the 'Roos pushed UMKC in front 15-7. The Kangaroos would go on to stretch their lead to as many as 12 at 22-10, before taking a 1-0 lead with a 25-14 victory.
The 'Roos extended their match lead to 2-0 with a 25-17 win in the second set. Midway through the set, the 'Roos trailed 12-11, but three kills from Melissa Hartsel during a 5-0 UMKC run put UMKC ahead 16-12. The 'Roos would go in front 22-14 after a kill from Taylor Buhrow and split the final six points for the win.
In the final set, the 'Roos would clinch the WAC championship with a 25-16 win. UMKC opened the set with 11 of the first 14 points and built their largest lead at 23-12. Six points later, Emma Hagedorn ended the match with a kill off a set from Nicole Wemhoff.
For the squad, setters Kaylyn Brandt and Wemhoff each finished with 14 assists, while Brandt added seven digs and Wemhoff 15.
In the back row, Taryn Miller led the team with 11 digs and Sydney Crimmins finished with 10, to go along with four blocks.
Hagedorn, meanwhile, led the 'Roos with seven kills and a .583 hitting percentage and Skyler Muff added five kills, a .556 hitting percentage, six digs and two blocks playing on her birthday.
At the net, Melissa Hartsel recorded a team-high seven blocks, while hitting .500 with six kills.
The Blue & Gold will be action again on Saturday when they take on New Mexico State with a chance to win the WAC title outright and clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament at 1 p.m. at the SRC.
