SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Despite going five sets with another top-25 team for a consecutive week, Griffon Volleyball began the SBU/Drury Invite on Friday with an 0-2 start at the O'Rielly Family Event Center.
This is the second week of competition under Head Coach
Jessica Fey. The Griffons lost to Drury (1-4) and No. 13 Southwest Minnesota State (5-0).
MATCH 1
Drury 3, MWSU 0
25-19, 25-17, 25-22
Missouri Western led 5-2 early on in set one, but Drury tied it at 7-7 and never trailed again, winning 25-19. The Griffons started set two with a 5-3 advantage and traded leads up to a 17-17 tie. The Panthers went on a 9-0 run to win ,25-17, putting themselves up, 2-0.
There were 14 lead changes in the third set, as MWSU hung on late with a 22-21 hold. However, Drury tied the game with a kill and eventually won thanks to a service by Salma Lewis to close out the match.
Danielle Moje and
Jessica Hendrix both led the Griffons with eight kills apiece.
Hailey Crane recorded one service ace while
Lia Graham pulled out 14 digs.
MATCH 2
NO. 13 SMSU 3, MWSU 2
21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 15-7
The Griffons kickstarted their second match of the day by taking set one from undefeated Southwest Minnesota State, 25-22. The Griffons fell behind 17-11 late but battled back to a 21-21 tie and ultimately won thanks to a 14-4 run.
MWSU led 10-4 at one point in set two, but the Mustangs tied things up at 16-16 and won, 25-19. The Mustangs ended the set with a 9-3 run. Set three was all SMSU, as the Mustangs built a 16-7 lead and led by as much as 10, keeping the Griffons at bay for 25-16 win.
Missouri Western's strong surge midway through set four was led by
Lily Kurz, who started and ended the game with a kill. After building a 19-13 lead, SMSU crept back into the contest and only trailed, 24-22. However, Kurz's final kill of the set sent the match to a fifth and final set.
The Mustangs came out hot in set five, constructing a 6-0 led before Kurz recorded a kill to get MWSU on the board. The Griffons were hanging on by a thread at 14-2 when they strung together a 5-0 run to come within striking distance. However, SMSU finished the match with a kill by Emma VanHeel, who finished second on the Mustangs with 16.
Meanwhile, Crane led the Griffons with 11 kills, while
Danielle Moje finished with 10.
UP NEXT
Missouri Western (1-5) begins day two of the invite on Saturday with a 9 a.m. matchup with Lake Superior State (1-4). The Griffons end the day at 3 p.m. against Southwest Baptist (2-3).
