ROLLA, Mo. – The Missouri Western volleyball team opened its 2021 season a pair of dominate wins Friday at the Miner Invitational at Missouri S&T in Rolla.  The Griffons swept Purdue Northwest in their first match 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-9) and they earned a 3-0 win over Arkansas-Monticello (25-16, 25-14, 25-18).
 
In the opener at Purdue Northwest, MWSU played nearly flawless as they committed just six errors in the three sets and hit .339.  The Griffons didn't have an error in the 25-9 third set and they hit .625.
 
Ali Tauchen led Missouri Western with 14 kills, while Hailey Crane added nine and Danielle Moje had eight kills.  Jenna Boland ran the offense and finished with 36 assists, while Jessica Sachen (13) and Karly Tharp (12) had double figure digs.  As a team, MWSU finished with nine aces.  Emilee McGowan led the way with three, while Tauchen and Sachen added two each.
 
The Griffons rolled in the nightcap as well as they hit .344 against Arkansas-Monticello and they committed just nine errors.  It was a balanced attack against UAM as four players has at least seven kills.  Tauchen and Allie Kerns each had nine, while Karly Tharp added eight kills and Crane finished with seven.
 
Boland had 31 assists, while Jessica Sachen led the defense with 13 digs.
 
Missouri Western will play two more matches on Saturday in at the Miner Invitational.  The Griffons square off against Upper Iowa at 1:00 p.m. and they finish up with Missouri S&T at 6:30 p.m.