October 18, 2002
Truman Volleyball's Home and MIAA Streaks Are Snapped By Washburn
Truman made several comebacks throughout the night to try to extend its 23-match MIAA winning streak and 28-match home winning streak, but the Bulldogs fell one comeback short as they fell 3-2 (30-24, 30-28, 26-30, 30-32, 15-10) to Washburn on Friday night at Pershing Arena.
The loss dropped the Bulldogs to 17-6 on the season and 7-1 in conference play. Washburn moved into first-place in the MIAA with a 9-1 record and is now 22-3 on the year.
Truman dropped the first two games and appeared in trouble in the third game after it was down 11-3 early on. However, the Bulldogs outscored the Lady Blues 22-9 after that point to take control of the game. In game four, Truman was up 25-21 until Washburn ran off six straight points. The two teams had four ties the rest of the way and the Bulldogs fought off one match point to win the game 32-30.
In the deciding fifth game, the Bulldogs were up early 5-4 until a sideout by Washburn tied the game. The Lady Blues' Mary Fisher was serving and Washburn scored four more points in a row to take a 9-5 lead. Truman cut it to two at 10-8 but Washburn scored four of the final five points to finish off the upset.
Truman hit just .185 on the night, its fourth-worst hitting match of the season, compared to .242 for Washburn. A big reason for that was 22 blocks by the visitors including 12 by Anna Neufeld. The Bulldogs had 14 more kills than the Lady Blues but also had 21 more hitting errors.
The Bulldogs were led by Kelly Vogel who had a career-high 27 kills followed by Shelby Ortwerth with 25. Jessica Sears, Micaela Walter and Jennifer Hunter all had double-figure kill totals as well. Monica Marlowe had 55 assists for Truman and Walter led the team with six blocks. Five Bulldogs had double-figure digs totals led by Ortwerth with a career-high 25.
Washburn also had five players with double-figure kills led by Neufeld with 19. Lindsay Kersting had 64 assists and Dana McHenry led the team with 22 digs.
Truman has little time to bounce back as it faces Emporia State in a MIAA contest tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. in Pershing Arena.