Kansas City
8-8,2-4WAC
Seattle U
10-10,4-2WAC
Volleyball Wins Second Straight Five Set Match, Moves to Second in WAC
10/12/2019 10:01:00 PM | Volleyball
Harrington and Schomers Lead Roos to VIctory
After Thursday's match against Utah Valley went to the wire, the Kansas City volleyball team was looking to make things easier for themselves against Seattle U. Things wouldn't go that way, however, as they needed five sets once again to take down the Redhawks, 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 17-25, 25-16, 15-10).
Alicia Harrington led the Roos once again, throwing down 20 kills for back-to-back matches with at least 20. For reference, she had not eclipsed that mark since September 22, 2018 prior to Thursday. Alli Schomers caught fire once again in the passing game, recording 52 assists for the second straight match, which is just one short of her career-high. With Schomers and Harrington pairing up in such a fashion, it makes Kansas City a tough squad to beat.
"Alli is coming into her own as a leader in the setter position," Head Coach Christi Posey said. "She has always understood her role as the point person to our offense but she is developing better understanding of the flow of the match. Alicia continues to lead by example with great determination. Her influence on her teammates shows by how hard they are battling."
After falling behind 15-11 in the first set, the Roos used the media timeout as a catalyst. They won 12 of the final 14 points in the set to steal it away from the Redhawks. Nine of those points came off of errors by Seattle U, which they would quickly turn around.
Seattle controlled the second and third sets, swinging for a combined .333 hitting percentage in those two sets. The Redhawks' Rachel Stark and Eve Kerschenbaum could do no wrong, picking apart the Kansas City defense.
"We struggled most of the first three sets in stopping their left side hitters. In the third set, they had zero hitting errors and hit .600," Posey said
The Roos found their stride in the fourth set, especially setting up well in the block. They sent away six Redhawk attacks, including five by Mykal Sadler, who tied her career high with nine blocks to end the match. Fear of the block set in for Seattle, as they hit at just a .128 clip.
"We were able to regroup in the fourth by siding out at 82% and challenging our blockers to be more disciplined and organized," Posey said.
The fifth set was all Kansas City, as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead with the help of two more blocks. Seattle U made things interesting, drawing back within three at 10-7, but a kill by Schomers and an ace by Ratzlaff quickly quelled any potential comeback.
With the victory, the Roos are 2-1 in five set matches this season, with both victories coming in the past week. Kansas City was taken to five sets seven times last season, posting a 2-5 record in such matches.
The Roos are now 5-1 in WAC play, the lone second place team following New Mexico State's 3-0 sweep of Grand Canyon. Kansas City will get its stab at the Aggies next week as they will host a battle between #1 and #2 at the Swinney Center on Thursday at 7 p.m.
