Competing at home on Saturday at William Lindsey Auditorium, junior middle/offensive hitter Brianna Kaiser smashed the ball into Pitt State territory. It was the third victory in the Lady Hornets’ current four-game winning streak.
Will Austin/The Bulletin
The volleyball team had a successful weekend with two sweeps in two days, beating Central Oklahoma 3-0 on Friday and Pittsburg State University 3-0 on Saturday.
The Hornets opened the season at home against Central Oklahoma. The offense was led by Morgan Buckner, junior elementary education major and right side hitter, who hit had 12 kills.
“What we have worked so hard on in practice is finally paying off in our games, and it is a really great feeling,” Buckner said. “We came in with the right mindset, (and) we handled our business and got the job done with no hesitations, and the results were really positive.”
Junior outside hitter Paige Vanderpool recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs. Sophomore undecided major, right side hitter and setter Katie Deutschmann led in assists with 26 in total, and added two service aces.
“It was very exciting to finally play at home, and we had been looking forward to it for a long time,” Deutschmann said. “The home opener went really well and we were excited to get the win in front of our fans.”
The Hornets won the game in three matches – 25-18, 25-19 and 25-16.
On Saturday, the Hornets hosted Pittsburg State University. There were only five lead changes on the day, and the Hornets swept PSU 3-0. Deutschmann lead the Hornets on offense with 12 kills and contributed 22 assists as well.
“We went out and played very clean and consistent like we had been working on in practice,” Deutschmann said.
Meg Schwartz, senior biology major and defensive specialist, led the Hornets on defense with 15 digs.
“Overall it was a solid weekend. We came out strong in both games and got the job done in three sets,” Schwartz said. “Everyone is playing aggressive, and it is definitely paying off.”
The Hornets played solid on both offense and defense and controlled the tempo for the weekend. They only committed nine attack errors on the match. The PSU Gorillas fell to 8-6 and are 0-5 on the season. The Hornets improved to 8-4 and 2-1 in MIAA play.
The Hornets play at 6 p.m. Friday against the University of Nebraska at Kearney. The next home game is at 3 p.m. Oct. 20 against Northwest Missouri State University.