Missouri Western opened up MIAA and home action with a 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-21) victory over the Fort Hays State Tigers on Saturday afternoon in the MWSU Fieldhouse. Western improves to 5-4 overall and 1-0 in MIAA play. Senior’s Tahler Johnston and Alex Behnke led the way with 12 and 11 kills respectively. Both players have had double digit kills in five different matches this season.
The two teams played set one close for the first 16 points as the score was tied at eight. Western used a 7-1 run pushing their lead to 15-9 after a kill by Stephanie Hattey. Western continued to play well outscoring the Tigers 10-8 on their way to a 25-17 set one victory. Western hit .375 in set one with 18 kills. Tahler Johnston led the way with five kills while Hattey recorded 14 set assists. Fort Hays had nine kills with Kylee Hoagland collecting four.
The Griffons opened up set two scoring five of the first seven points after two kills from Alex Behnke. The Tigers gained momentum the next half of the match taking a four point lead at 15-11 after a 13-6 run. Western stayed poised battling back little by little. The Griffons scored the final four points of the set claiming the 26-24 victory and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Western had 16 kills with Hannah Zimmerman and Behnke both recording four in the set. Hattey had 15 set assists while Faubel had 10 digs. The Tigers had nine kills with Madison Schwartz collecting five.
The two teams played set three close for the first 18 points as the score was tied at nine. Western opened up a four point lead at 15-11 after a kill by Zimmerman. Both teams scored 10 points the rest of the way as Western was able to claim the 25-21 set three victory and the 3-0 victory in the match.
Hattey finished the match with 39 set assists while Faubel, Kelley Scannell and Johnston had 16, 10 and 10 digs respectively. Meredith McCormick led the way in hitting percentage hitting .333 with seven kills in 15 attempts. Western had 47 kills and 55 digs in the match.
Fort Hays falls to 6-5 on the season and 0-3 in MIAA play. They had 29 kills with Schwartz leading the way with nine. Kayla Zoglman had 25 set assists while Tacie Hileman had 21 of their 57 digs.
Western returns to action on Friday, September 23 when they hit the road to take on the 22nd ranked Hornets of Emporia State. Game time is set for 7:00 pm in Emporia, Kan. in White Auditorium.
— MWSU Sports Information —