COLORADO SPRINGS  – The Missouri Western volleyball team opened the Steel and Silver Classic with two wins Friday as they’ve won four consecutive games after starting 0-2.

Missouri Western picked up a five-set win Friday morning over previously unbeaten Tarleton State and swept winless Adams State in the afternoon. The team will play two more matches on Saturday at the event, facing Texas Women’s at 10 a.m. and Eastern New Mexico at 3 p.m.

MWSU 3, Tarleton State 2
Jessie Thorup matched a career-high with 25 kills as the Griffons rallied after falling behind two sets to one. Missouri Western held off a Tarleton State rally late in the fourth set to force the fifth. After four close, back-and-forth sets, the two teams were tied at 10 in the fifth set before MWSU scored five straight to take the match.

Thorup hit .304 in the match and added nine digs to her 25 kills. Rchel Friedrichs finished with 11 kills, three block assists and three digs. Blair Russell had 10 kills and five digs. Jordan Chohon finished with 54 assists and 10 digs. Kayla Ruff led the Griffons with 18 digs, while Audrey Keim added 13.

MWSU 3, Adams State 0
The Griffons didn’t have the most efficient offensive performance but spread the attack across their offense while forcing Adams State into 29 attack errors and holding the Grizzlies to an -.044 hitting percentage.

Thorup led the team again but stayed under double-digits in kills, adding nine. Lindsey Partridge and Shellby Taylor each had seven kills. Partridge and Thorup added five blocks each as did Ashley Mainord. Ruff had her second 18-dig performance of the day and Keim picked up 16 more of her own.

— MWSU Athletics —