TOPEKA, Kan. – With its back against the wall on the first day of the 2016 season, the Missouri Western volleyball team rallied to split two matches on the first day of the Washburn Invitational.

Match 1: University of Mary 3, MWSU 2
The Missouri Western Volleyball team dropped its opening match to University of Mary in five sets (25-20,23-25,25-23,24-26,9-15) in the opening game at the Washburn Invitational.

Missouri Western was in a battle early in the first set before using a 7-2 run to claim the first set. The Griffons erased a four-point deficit midway through the second set, but the Marauders were able to escape late in the set to tie the match at 1-1. The third set saw the Griffons fight off a late U of Mary rally with a setter’s attack from Lauren Murphy to take the 2-1 match lead. The fourth set, again, saw the Marauders escaping late with four-straight points to force a deciding fifth set. In the fifth set, Missouri Western could not overcome five straight points by U of Mary to close out the game.

The Griffons were led by Blair Russell, who had 14 kills on the match. Kelsey Olion added 12 kills, while hitting .500 for Missouri Western. Freshman Lauren Murphy made her first career start as a Griffon, dishing out 39 assists for the match.

Match 2: MWSU 3, Drury 2
Missouri Western’s third straight match at Washburn’s Lee Arena ended in a five sets. The Griffons rallied back from down 0-2 to beat Drury University 3-2 (19-25, 13-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-9) in the afternoon game of the Washburn Invitational.

After a late timeout, the Missouri Western offense found its groove. The Griffons used Kelsey Olion’s kill to spark five consecutive points in the third set to take a 16-14 lead from Drury and never looked back in the set. Brushing off a slow start in the fourth set, Missouri Western used a 12-4 advantage to gain momentum midway through and take the set following back-to-back Stephanie Doak kills.

Drury jumped out to an early 4-1 fifth set lead but, the Griffons took advantage of Rachel Friedrich’s kill to finish the match on a 7-3 run. Friedrich behind her 10 kills, four blocks and three aces led Missouri Western. Stephanie Doak added 10 kills with Kelsey Olion’s eight.

The Griffons evened their record to 1-1 and will look to add to that starting at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow against Quincy University and again at 1:30 p.m. versus Midwestern State.

— MWSU Athletics —