Oct. 17, 2009 – The 20th-ranked Truman volleyball squad hit .254 as a team and got double-digit kill performances from freshmen Megan Sharpe and Heather Hargadine on the way to a 3-1 (-16, 24-26, -18, -15) win against Missouri Western in Pershing Arena on Saturday night. The Bulldogs moved to 18-8 overall and 6-4 in the MIAA with the win.
Sharpe set a career high with nine blocks (one solo, eight assist) to go with her match-high 13 kills, while Hargadine logged a double-double with 12 kills along with 17 digs. Truman put down 16 team blocks on the night, a season-high, in holding the visiting Griffons (8-15, 1-9 MIAA) to just .056 hitting. It was the second straight match that the Bulldogs held an opponent to less than .060 hitting.
Junior Ashley Petak recorded her 11th assist-dig double-double on the season by dishing out 24 assists and digging 13 MWSU attacks. Senior Lauren Graybeal had eight kills and five block assists, while freshman Emily Briseno picked up a pair of solo blocks.
Three Bulldogs (Petak, junior Casey Bruno and sophomore Molly Sinclair) dealt a pair of service aces with Bruno also tallying a match-best 21 digs.
Truman hit better than .210 in three of the four sets in a match that saw just seven total lead changes. After forcing MWSU into hitting -.024 in the opening frame, the Bulldogs fell behind early in the second set and eventually gave up a two-point decision, 24-26, to the Griffons at the intermission.
However, coming out the break, Truman blistered MWSU to a .419 hitting percentage in taking a 25-18 decision before turning on the defense in the final frame en route to a 25-15 fourth set victory.
“It was a great 2-0 weekend for us,” head coach Ben Briney said. “We have Emporia State, Washburn and Fort Hays coming up, so it was big for us to get two MIAA wins and build some momentum prior to a pair of top-25 matches next week.”
The Bulldogs kick off back-to-back matches against (current) top-10 squads on Wednesday night when the second-half of the MIAA season gets underway against No. 8 Emporia State in Emporia, Kan., on Wednesday night. Match time is 7 pm.