ST. JOSEPH, Mo. -- After overcoming a second-set hiccup, the Missouri Western volleyball team dispatched Truman State 3-1 (25-16, 15-25, 25-8, 25-18) in non-conference action on Tuesday night. Katherine White led a solid Griffons attack with 15 kills on the night, with Ali Tauchen (14) and Allie Kerns (13) also finishing in double figures for the match. Jenna Boland dished out a career-best 49 assists and added three service aces as the Griffons moved to 8-3 on the year.
The first two sets were reminiscent of last Saturday's match. Missouri Western posted a strong .333 attack percentage and kept Truman State easily at arm's distance after a 10-3 run to open the match before faltering to a .000 attack percentage in the second set.
Coming out of the break between sets two and three, it was clear that Missouri Western was not feeling any deja vu as the Griffons smothered Truman State, hitting .462 en route to a 25-8 set win. The Bulldogs were only able to record consecutive points twice in the match (13-5, 13-6 and 18-7,18-8), while MWSU posted a run of seven points early in the set and closed with a six-point run.
MWSU led wire to wire in the fourth set to close out the match, with White and Tauchen each posting five kills in the final set.
Missouri Western returns to MIAA play to close out the four-match homestand, hosting Pittsburg State at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 24 and Missouri Southern on Saturday at 3 p.m.