ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- Ali Tauchen continued her climb up the career points board and Allie Kerns posted a flawless .667 hitting percentage as Missouri Western swept over Missouri Southern 3-0 (25-18, 25-7, 25-18) on Tuesday night. The attacking duo recorded 10 kills each in the win for the Griffons, who move to 11-4 (3-3 MIAA) on the year.
Missouri Western struck first in set number one behind a strong kill from Kerns, but Missouri Southern reeled off three straight points and ran out to a 7-4 lead. The Griffons were eventually able to break the serve of Emily-Kate Lonergan and whittle away at the lead and edge out to a 16-14 lead. Missouri Southern was able to respond after a timeout and tie the set at 16-16, but MWSU just powered through to take the first set win 25-18.
With the serve in the second set, Missouri Western found itself in an early 2-0 hole on a pair of uncharacteristic errors, but the Griffons responded with vigor. Jenna Boland atoned for her off-the-mark set on the opening point with a strong back-row kill, then Hailey Crane opened her service with an ace as part of a three-point run to move the Griffons back in front 4-2.
Missouri Southern tied the set at 4-4 and again at 5-5 before Missouri Western put the hammer down. After setting up Karly Tharp for a kill, Boland served 10 straight points for MWSU, capped by a service ace to put the Griffons up 16-5. The Lions were able to pick up a sideout to stop Boland's charge at 16-6, but Tharp followed a kill with a service ace and back-to-back attack errors to stretch the Griffon lead to 20-6. Kerns and Tauchen put an exclamation point on the end of the second set, stuffing Lonergan at the net.
Emilee McGowan finally broke open the third set for Missouri Western, serving five consecutive points after a Kerns kill at 13-11 to open up a seven-point margin. The Griffons coasted to an anticlimactic finish to the match, trading service errors to run out 25-18 winners.
Missouri Western hit a respectable .255 in the match, highlighted by a .409 pace in the second set. Defensively, the Griffons held Missouri Southern underwater, as the visitors finished with a -.019 hitting percentage on 24 kills against 26 errors in 106 total swings. Boland was one of two Griffons with a pair of service aces on the night as MWSU racked up seven in the match.
The Griffons return to the road for their next three matches, traveling to University of Central Oklahoma on Friday, Oct. 8. First serve for the match is set for 6 p.m.