Volleyball Finishes Second at Golden Grizzlies Invite

Friday, September 8

Rochester, MI

8:00 AM

Kansas City

6-1,0-0Summit League

Chicago State

5-1,0-0DI Independent

Kansas City

Chicago St.

Photo by: Kansas City Athletics

Volleyball Finishes Second at Golden Grizzlies Invite

9/9/2023 7:28:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score 3

Second Place Clinched with Wins Over Oakland and Eastern Michigan Despite Chicago State Defeat

Rochester, Mich. - Kansas City Volleyball faced a tough challenge against Chicago State on Friday morning as the Roos took the first set but fell to the Cougars in the last three sets, wrapping up their impressive six-match win streak to begin the season. Despite the competition, the Roos managed to secure victories against Oakland and Eastern Michigan, concluding the Golden Grizzlies Tournament with a 2-1 record and an overall 8-1 record for the early part of the season. Sydney Henry had a standout performance, matching her personal best in aces and surpassing her highest point total with 11, while also recording seven kills against the Oakland Grizzlies. Additionally, Henry is just 271 assists away from surpassing her career high in assists, a milestone she aims to achieve during this volleyball season. Following the match, Henry & Sila Ozyurek earned All-Tournament team honors.

SET-BY-SET VS. Oakland

SET ONE / 21 - 25 | Henry distributed the offense early, giving Kansas City a small lead in the early stages of the set. Oakland staged a comeback and managed to tie the score at 17-17 and pulled ahead late to take the first set from the Roos.
SET TWO / 25 - 21 | Blair Taylor came off the bench for an ace that gave the Roos and early lead, then Odyssey Warren's block against Oakland kick-started the Roos, giving them a three-point lead. After a series of back-and-forth points, Caroline Keithley came through with her first-career kill, giving the Roos an 11-10 lead. Kimora Whetstone sent across a kill that stopped an Oakland run and put the Roos back on the right track. Kaia Dunford contributed the final kill of the set, securing a 21-21 tie and Oakland's errors granted the Roos the set victory.
SET THREE / 25 - 16 | Dunford, Whetstone, Ozyurek and Gillen put up kills in the early going, giving the Roos a four-point lead. Later in the set, Carly Gillen and Warren extended KC's lead and sparked a run for Kansas City. Henry sent a kill over to give KC a 10-point lead and the Roos coasted to victory.
SET FOUR / 25 - 21 | After going back-and-forth for most of the set, Henry, Dunford and Gillen powered home kills and forced an Oakland timeout with the score standing at 21-18 in favor of the Roos. Ozyurek comes through in the clutch, closing out the game and securing the winning point for the Roos against Oakland with a final score of 25-21.

SET-BY-SET VS. Eastern Michigan

SET ONE / 25 - 22 | Ozyurek and Warren set the tone in the early going as the Roos built up a four-point lead. The lead remained there through the middle stages of the set, forcing EMU to take a timeout. Immediately following the timeout, Gillen and Whetstone came through with kills to pressure the Eagles into their second timeout. The Eagles managed to narrow the gap to a three-point deficit, but Ozyurek sealed the set, just as she had begun it, with a decisive kill.
SET TWO / 25 - 15 | Henry found Warren, Dunford and Ozyurek in the attack for three-straight kills as Kansas City built a lead at the beginning of the set. Later in the set, Samantha Moburg came in for back-to-back kills, extending KC's lead to 10 points and securing her first kills in a Roo uniform.
SET THREE / 25 - 13 | After the Eagles used a three-point run in the early going to claim a 4-3 lead, the Roos dominated and coasted to victory, holding EMU to a negative hitting percentage and securing the match with back-to-back blocks, one by Gillen and Dunford, the other by Gillen and Henry.

STATS TO NOTE

Against the Eagles, Kansas City swung at a blazing .374 hitting percentage, committing just eight attacking errors across the entire match. That hitting percentage is the best by a Kansas City team in a single match since hitting .456 against St. Thomas on Nov. 11, 2021.
Gillen showed extreme prowess in the attack, going for 10 kills on .391 hitting against Oakland and posting eight kills on .727 hitting against Eastern Michigan.
Henry posted her fifth double-double of the season against Oakland, going for 38 assists and 12 digs. Dunford continued her all-around performance, going for double-doubles against both Oakland and Eastern Michigan.

COACH CHRISTI POSEY, QUOTED

" We had a bit of a slower start against Oakland - we weren't quite as clean but got into great rhythm in sets 2 and 3, finishing the match with terrific offensive balance and efficiency. Carly and Kaia paced us with good offensive numbers with Odyssey and Sila contributing also.Sydney continues to run the offense well; she is making good decisions and delivering good tempo balls while increasing her own offensive output."

"I was very pleased how our team played against Eastern Michigan. We hit very well but most of that was created by our primary passers, led by Leah, Blair and McKenzie. Point scoring was a highlight too with solid serving and scrappy play."

"Overall, a good weekend of competing. We look forward to being home and playing in front of our Roo fans."

UP NEXT
This weekend, the Roos will be playing on their home court as they face off against Austin Peay, St. Louis and Southeast Missouri State in the KC Roos Klassic on Sep. 15th and 16th.