Kansas City
10-21,7-11Summit League
Western Illinois
4-26,0-18Summit League
Roos Claim Five-Setter to End Season with a Win
11/19/2022 3:17:00 PM | Volleyball
Kansas City used hot serving to sneak past the Leathernecks in the season finale
MACOMB, Ill. – With the match on the line, it was the underclassmen who wouldn't let the seniors end their careers with a loss, as Odyssey Warren and Carly Gillen had key kills in Kansas City's thrilling 25-14, 25-13, 22-25, 22-25, 16-14 victory over Western Illinois Saturday afternoon in Western Hall. Trailing 12-9 in the deciding fifth set, Warren had two kills and Gillen followed with the game-winner as Kansas City finished the season with two straight road wins.
Warren finished the match with a team-high 17 kills and 18 digs to lead the Roos, while Raina Smith had 11 kills and Gillen finished with 10. The Roos matched their season high in services aces established on Thursday night vs. St. Thomas with 10, three each by Warren and Kennedy Schritenthal.
Kansas City breezed through the first two set by scores of 25-14 and 25-13 but Western Illinois played its most inspiring volleyball of the season and tied the match with a pair of 25-23 set victories. The Leathernecks had 10 of their 15 blocks in the 3rd and 4th sets and the Roos had five of their 10 service errors in the same sets to help Western to the wins.
In the third set, Warren got the Roos off to a 2-0 start with two kills and Gillen added another for a 4-1 lead. Western Illinois kept close and then pulled away to a 12-9 lead before Warren stopped the bleeding with a kill to make it 12-10. Three more Kansas City points in Western Illinois hitting errors gave the Roos a 13-12 lead before Gillen's heroics on match point.
The match marked the final game for seniors Georgia Mullins, Kennedy Schritenthal, Raina Smith, Rachel Sturdevant, Bree Thompson and Peyton Van Nest.
Kansas City concluded the season with a record of 10-21, 7-11 in Summit League play, while Western Illinois (4-26, 0-18) ended the season winless in Summit League play, becoming the fourth team in the past ten seasons to fail to win a match in league play (UND, 2021; SDSU, 2017; SDSU; 2014).
KEY MOMENTS
- S1 / 14-9 – After a service error brought Western Illinois within 10-9, the Roos ran off the next four points thanks to two Leatherneck hitting errors and a service error. After a KC hitting error the Roos rattled off four straight points behind three kills by Whetstone, Green and Smith.,
- S1 / 22-12 – Leah Green had two consecutive service aces as the Roos got closer to a set win victory. Mullins closed out the set with two kills to give the visitors a set one win.
- S2 / 15-8 – A Whetstone service ace, two kills by Mullins, a kill by Warren and four WIU hitting errors allowed the Roos to score seven of the next eight points and take a comfortable 15-8 lead. Kansas City had 8 kills with just one error in 16 attacks up to that point.
- S2 / 24-13 – Three straight service aces by Kennedy Schritenthal brought the Roos within a point of the second set and Warren finished it off with a kill.
S2 | 3? aces in a row for @kennedyys_ ?????#ROOUP | #DeclareKC pic.twitter.com/U7EmvkHgRe
— Kansas City Volleyball (@KCRoosVB) November 19, 2022
- S3 / 9-10 – Grace Kremer had a kill to give Western Illinois a lead. It was the 9th kill of the set for the Leathernecks, who had just 7 and 8 kills in the first two sets
- S3 / 21-21 – With the Roos ahead 21-19, Whetstone had her second service error of the match, Karli Wenzel followed with a service ace for Western Illinois to tie the match. Brittany Wulf had kills on the last two points to give the Leathernecks the win in set three, their first set win in six matches.
- S4 / 12-16 – With the Roos down 16-10 Whetstone put down consecutive kills to bring the visitors within four points. Two service errors, a ball handling error and a hitting error on the deciding point allowed WIU to even the match.
- S5 / 9-12 – Western Illinois scored four straight points, helped by two Roos hitting errors, to take a big 3-point lead. After a timeout, the Roos scored the next four points to go up 13-12. A Warren kills and three WIU hitting errors keyed the run.
STATS TO NOTE
- After a slow start, Kansas City closed out the first set with eight kills on nine attacks to finish with a .211 efficiency. Western Illinois had just five kills and six errors for a negative efficiency.
- The Roos had a season-high 10 services aces in their game Thursday vs. St. Thomas and five aces in set two gave them seven for the match.
- Meaningless stat of the match – A Raina Smith kill scored the 20th point for Kansas City in sets 1, 2 and 4.
- It was Kansas City's fourth win in nine 5-set matches this season, while for Western Illinois, it was its 3rd five-set match of the season and just the first in Summit League play, with losses in each one.
COACH CHRISTI POSEY, QUOTED
"It was a good result on a hard fought match. Lots of emotions today… we're disappointed we didn't play more consistent throughout the season to be in a better position for conference tournament play. The opening 2 sets were positive due to good offensive rhythm and quality transition offense. We were able to utilize our speed and balance. The next two sets were marred with self inflicted errors and an improved level of play by Western. Their energy and intent was better than ours. We were able to settle in a bit better in game five but found ourselves behind 12-9 when we made some key defensive plays and Odyssey converted on aggressive swings at end game. We were fortunate to make plays down the stretch. As usual, there are lessons to be learned in that experience."
"It is a bittersweet feeling to say farewell to our seniors and to end our season prematurely. We're grateful for their dedication and their effort - they have each made their mark on Roo Volleyball and will always be special. Several of our younger players got good game experience and everyone improved from day one. It is our mission as a coaching staff to continue to learn, teach, recruit and lead in a way that provides our TEAM the opportunity to contend for the Summit League Championship every year. We'll rest, recover, and reassess how we can achieve goal moving forward. Thank you to Dr. Martin, Ursula Gurney, Curt Jacey and the rest of our Roo staff for their support in all areas."
UP NEXT
The Roos finish the 2022 season with a 10-21 mark and finish seventh in the Summit League. The Roos will now build toward the 2023 campaign.
