The Emporia State volleyball team came out victorious over the #4 University of Central Missouri Jennies last night, winning a close bout in five matches, 3-2. The last time the two teams met was on Sept. 23 of this season – when UCM walked away the victor with a decisive 3-0 win over the Hornets. ESU was out for revenge and took care of business, taking the match to five sets and winning 25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 17-25 and 15-11
In the first set, the Hornets started off hot with a 5-2 lead. UCM battled their way back to eventually lead by two points, 14-12, when ESU head coach Bing Xu called a timeout. After the timeout, the Jennies continued their dominant play, but the Hornets would not throw in the towel. A pivotal kill by freshman setter/outside hitter and undecided major Katelyn Schmidtberger brought the team back into the lead at 20-18 – timeout was called by UCM first-year head coach Flip Piontek to regroup his squad.
Right Side Hitter Brittney Miller and Middle Hitter Katelyn Kaiser jump to block a spike sent by UCM’s Kelsey Ellis Wednesday night at White Auditorium. The Hornets beat the #4 Jennies 3-2 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 17-25, 15-11). Kellen Jenkins/The Bulletin.
A four point swing in favor of Central Missouri would force Xu to call his final timeout of the set with the score 22-20, UCM. ESU would eventually win the set, 25-22, due largely in part to a high energy, psyched-up Hornet squad that set out to take care of business after the Xu timeout.
The second set was a bizarre one. ESU jumped out to an 8-1 lead early in the set with the help of strong defense and several critical errors by the Jennies. After a UCM timeout, a successful comeback effort was made by Central Missouri, tying the game at 9-9.
The Jennies came out strong, leading by as much as four, but the Hornets stayed disciplined and brought the score back to a tie at 17-17. Points were traded back and forth, until great defense and a service error helped the Hornets take the lead at 22-20 – timeout was taken by UCM.
Another service error, a heads-up play by junior setter and business major Ting Liu, and a final kill of the set by senior outside hitter and marketing major Arica Shepard sealed the deal for the Hornets, as they took the set, 25-21. Xu could tell the stark difference in the Hornets play from the last meeting with UCM to this one.
“The last time we played so poorly, and this time they were so ready,” said Xu. “The first two games you could tell.”
The third set looked easy for the Hornets until the very end. At one point, a 5-5 tie turned into a 9-5 ESU lead, thanks to smart playing by the Hornets. A definitive and dominant showing by ESU forced a Jennies timeout at 20-14, Hornets lead. A late surge by UCM turned the game into a 21-18 ESU lead, followed by a Xu timeout. Two more points for the Jennies forced another Xu timeout to regroup the Hornets.
Xu believed his team lacked some qualities that are usually present in most matches.
“We have to play consistently,” Xu said. “From the third game you could tell, they picked up their serving…they tried to go after us every single point.”
A rare service error by Liu and solid offensive output by Central Missouri set the score at 24-22 UCM – the Jennies would go on to win the set 25-23.
Shepard thought that team spirits weren’t in check.
“We weren’t believing in ourselves as much as we should have, and we just can’t do that,” Shepard said.
Set number four started slow for the Hornets, falling to a 5-1 UCM lead. After an unproductive couple of sets for ESU, an extremely rare substitution was made – Shepard left the game. The Hornets were trailing as much as seven before a determined Shepard returned to the game. Shepard knew that her play wasn’t up to par.
“Tonight, I definitely deserved to be taken out,” Shepard said. “It wasn’t my best game, by any means, and I kind of knew it was coming. He was just trying to get, I think, some motivation back out there and motivate me, too.”
Key efforts, both on offense and defense, led the Hornets to take the lead at 13-12, followed by a Jennies timeout. An ESU timeout gave the team a quick break as UCM led, 20-16. Shepard was again subbed out of the game and would not return, as the Hornets dropped the fourth set, 25-17.
The fifth and final set of the evening started off with a 3-0 Hornets lead. Central Missouri would fight back, but it wouldn’t be enough before a timeout was called by Piontek with the Hornets leading, 7-4. Another UCM timeout would come after the Jennies fell down by 4 to the Hornet lead, 11-7. The match rounded off with a victory for the Hornets, winning the fifth set 15-11.
During the match, junior middle hitter and chemistry major Brianne Boner became Emporia State’s all-time leader in block assists.
“It’s something that’s nice,” Boner said. “I’m not really about records, but it’s nice to know that I can help my team out in that way, and that’s really an honor.”
Xu noted the positives of Boner’s presence on the court.
“She brought a lot of fire on the court,” Xu said. “You can tell after she blocks how excited she was, and that pumps the whole team up.”
After the match, Shepard commented on how important the win was for her and her team.
“(I feel) happy and relieved,” Shepard said. “I don’t know why we put that much pressure on ourselves…getting a win like that, that was huge. We needed that so bad.’
Boner also commented on how she felt after the big win.
“It feels great, because we know they’re a really good team,” Boner said. “It feels great to beat a team this good.”
Freshman setter/right sight hitter and undecided major Katelyn Schmidtberger led the Hornets with 18 kills on the night, followed by Shepard with 15, junior right hitter and nursing major Brittney Miller with 12, and Boner with 11. Junior setter and business major Ting Liu added 54 assists, and senior libero and health promotion major Amy Byfield chipped in with 23 digs.
Up next for the Hornets will be a Saturday afternoon match against MIAA opponent Nebraska-Omaha. First serve is set for 4 p.m. in Omaha, Neb.
Shane Wilson/The Bulletin
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