September 25, 2002
Shelby Orthwerth Leads Truman Past Missouri Western In Five Games
Truman, ranked 18th in the country, received a tough challenge on Wednesday night from Missouri Western but a strong performance from Shelby Ortwerth helped the Bulldogs hang on for a 30-26, 28-30, 30-28, 30-32 and 15-7 win.
Ortwerth recorded 28 kills and 17 digs on the night while having a .313 hitting percentage. Truman also scored four straight points off of her serving in the fifth and deciding game which gave the Bulldogs a comfortable 13-6 lead on their way to victory. It was the eighth double-double for Ortwerth on the season and her seventh in the last eight matches.
Jessica Sears also had a double-double with 16 kills and 20 digs. Melanie Jones came off the bench and added 11 kills and eight digs, both season-highs for the freshman. Kelly Vogel and Jennifer Hunter each had double-figure kill totals as well. Monica Marlowe had team-highs on the night with 41 assists and 21 digs. Rachael Shedd added 30 assists and Rebecca Knefelkamp had 10 digs for Truman.
Missouri Western was led by Lindsay Palaia who had 19 kills and a .405 hitting percentage. Katie Ham added 17 kills followed by Mary Pickert with 12 and Shelly Chiles with 11. Therese Hand had 61 assists for the Griffons and Pickert led the team with 24 digs The Griffons, who won the blocking battle 16 to 7, had 11 blocks from Palaia.
The win improved Truman's record to 10-4 overall and 5-0 in the conference. Missouri Western fell to 9-3 on the year and 1-3 in MIAA play.
Truman will be in action again on Saturday when it travels to Rockhurst for a 2 p.m. match.