Kansas City
2-5
Milwaukee
9-1
Volleyball Opens Up Jackrabbit Invitational with a Split
9/20/2019 7:05:00 PM | Volleyball
Roos Fall to Milwaukee, Run Through Valpo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City volleyball team has been looking for answers following a 2-5 start, and they may have begun to found them late on day one of the Jackrabbit Invitational. They split results, falling to Milwaukee 3-0 (25-20, 25-23, 25-17) before defeating Valparaiso 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 25-22).Â
The Roos began the day by taking on a Milwaukee team that is off to its best start in 12 years. Coach Christi Posey has had no problem switching up the lineup to begin the season, and it did not stop as the Roos took on the Panthers. She pegged Mykal Sadler for her first start of the season, and Sadler was not looking to let the opportunity go to waste, jumping out and throwing down a kill on the first point of the match. After that, the Panthers took a lead that would stay for the rest of the set. Kansas City battled to keep it close, but could never fulfill the comeback.
In set two, the Roos looked as if they were going to create separation. They rattled off five straight points to build a 7-4 lead and force a Panther timeout, but Milwaukee came out and bounced back, tying it at 14-14. Kansas City committed more errors than they could force, sending over eight errant shots to Milwaukee's two. That would come back to haunt the Roos as they dropped a close set, 25-23.
Milwaukee jumped all over Kansas City in the third set, winning the first eight points before a kill by Alicia Harrington put the Roos on the board. The Panthers responded by going on another seven-point tear, and were able to cruise to a 25-17 win in the match clincher.
Against Valpo, the Roos needed to come out with fire, and that's just what they did. They committed six errors within their first six kills, but were able to battle through their hitting woes, closing out the set with 11 kills and just one error. The Roos took six of the last seven points from the Crusaders to steal a 25-23 first set victory, their first since beginning the season with a 25-13 opening set victory over Kansas.
Ty Lukes paced the team in the first set, hitting a perfect 5-5. She was able to extend that streak into the second set, finding seven kills in her first seven attacks before sending over an empty attack.
Valpo responded in the second set, returning the favor by finishing a close set by taking six of the last seven points from Kansas City. Kansas City controlled the third and fourth sets, using a flurry of aces, blocks and solid hitting to take care of the Crusaders. The victory snaps an 11 match losing streak against Valpo that dated back to 2002.
"Our team played better and developed more toughness in the Valpo win," Posey said. "We're learning every match and that's important in the long run."
Alli Schomers controlled the Roos' passing game, ending the match with a career high 53 assists, while adding three blocks. Ty Lukes finished with 13 kills on a .611 hitting percentage, her highest since hitting .632 in an October 18th victory over Grand Canyon last year. Kelsie Milkowski entered the match in the third set and garnered a career high seven kills in just two sets of play, while Lukes and Harrington added five blocks apiece to pace the Roos to ten blocks, a tie of their season high.
The Roos will wrap up non-conference play tomorrow, as they take on hosting South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits opened up play with a 3-0 loss to Valparaiso. The Roos last took on SDSU in last season's opener, a 3-0 Kansas City victory.
