Kansas City
Valparaiso
?Roos Split With Valpo And SDSU On Opening Day Of Jackrabbit Invitational
9/5/2014 9:54:00 PM | Volleyball
(Kansas City, Mo.) – The Missouri-Kansas City volleyball team (3-2) split a pair of matches against former conference foes on the opening day of the Jackrabbit Invitational falling to Valparaiso (5-1) 3-1 in the tournament's first match before rebounding with a 3-0 sweep of host South Dakota State (3-3) on Friday evening at Frost Arena in Brookings, S.D.
Valparaiso 3, UMKC 1
In the opening match, the 'Roos dominated the Crusaders in the first set but dropped the final three to take the loss.
The 'Roos quickly jumped out to a 7-2 advantage after back-to-back aces from Nicole Wemhoff and a kill from Jessica Hendin before extending the lead to nine at 20-11 with four straight kills, including two more from Hendin. Valpo would score four more points in the sets, but a third Wemhoff ace closed out set one 25-15 in favor of the Kangaroos.
The UMKC lead was short-lived however as Valpo broke a 22-22 tie in set two, scoring the final three points to tie the match at 1-1 before scoring the final two points in set three to win 25-23 and go ahead 2-1. The Crusaders then claimed the match with a 25-14 win in the final game of the match.
In the match, Hendin (15 kills, 17 digs), Sydney Crimmins (10 kills, 13 digs), Wemhoff (13 assists, 12 digs) and Kaylyn Brandt (21 assists, 10 digs) all notched double-doubles.
UMKC 3, South Dakota State 0
The 'Roos bounced back in the day's final match, using momentum from a come-from-behind 35-33 first set win to sweep the Jacks 3-0.
UMKC fell behind 21-15 in the first frame, but reeled off 10 of the next 13 points, including the last three on three straight kills from Emma Hagedorn, to take a late lead 25-24. The 'Roos would serve for the win seven times over the next 16 points before SDSU reclaimed the lead 33-32. As the hosts served for the set, however, Hagedorn and Skyler Muff put the 'Roos back in front with back-to-back kills, while a block by the duo capped the victory and put the Kangaroos ahead 1-0.
In the second game, the 'Roos built a six point advantage midway through the set and eventually stretched it to as many as 10 at 24-14 before going ahead 2-0 in the match with a 25-20 win as Muff ended the set with a kill from Brandt.
UMKC then closed out the match and picked up their third win of the season with a 25-16 third set win that Muff again ended with a kill from Brandt.
For the 'Roos, Crimmins finished with a team-high 14 kills, hitting .264, while Hagedorn and Muff each finished with 13 kills, hitting .333 and .478, respectively. In the back row, Taryn Miller notched 24 digs and Brandt added her second double-double of the day with 30 assists and 11 digs.
The Blue & Gold will wrap-up action tomorrow in the Jackrabbit Invitational when they face Stephen F. Austin at noon.
