FHSU Athletics
OKLAHOMA CITY - The Fort Hays State volleyball team opened its 2022 season with a 1-1 split Friday at the Eagle Classic hosted by Oklahoma Christian. The Tigers fell in three close sets against Illinois-Springfield before posting a dramatic five-set victory over Arkansas Tech.
Riley Tinder led the Tigers with 30 kills and 31 digs on the day while adding four service aces. Making her collegiate debut, Gracie Rains came in late to average a team-high 4.00 kills per set over the final two frames of the ATU match. Elysia Glowacz totaled 47 assists, averaging 5.88 per set, with Jaida Felix adding 29 on the day (3.63 per set). Emily Ellis led the squad with five blocks on the day, while Caiya Stucky and Morgan Christiansen both contributed four blocks over the two matches.
Illinois-Springfield 3, Fort Hays State 0 (23-25, 16-25, 21-25)
The Tigers fell in three sets against Illinois-Springfield in the season opener, despite holding a 7-4 lead in the blocks category against the Prairie Stars. Riley Tinder recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 13 assists, while Morgan Christiansen contributed five kills and four blocks.
UIS led by as many as five in the first set before FHSU rattled off five-straight points to tie things up at 14-14. The teams traded points the rest of the way before the Prairie Stars pulled out a 25-23 win.
The Tigers fell behind early in the second set, falling 25-16, before bouncing back to score the first six points in the third set. After FHSU maintained a six-point lead at 10-4, the Prairie Stars fought back with seven of the next nine rallies to close within one, 12-11. Fort Hays State led as late as 16-15 before UIS closed things out with a 25-21 victory.
Tinder picked up her 14 kills on 40 swings while committing just two errors for an attack rate of .300. Mykah Eshbaugh tallied seven kills and two blocks. Elysia Glowacz paced the Tigers with 16 assists, while Jaida Felix was right behind with 13 assists. Brooke Hyland dropped in a pair of service aces in her first collegiate contest and libero Jaden Daffer led the squad with 14 digs.
Fort Hays State 3, Arkansas Tech 2 (24-26, 25-14, 25-21, 25-27, 17-15)
The Tigers came out on top in a back-and-forth tussle with Arkansas Tech in the night cap, winning in five sets. After the teams split the first four frames, the Golden Suns raced out to an 8-1 lead in the final set. ATU later led by as many as 12-4 before the Tigers went on a blistering run, scoring on 13 of the next 16 rallies to collect the victory.
Arkansas Tech led by as many as five early in the opening frame, but five-consecutive points from the Tigers helped FHSU take a 15-13 lead. The Golden Suns then went back up by three before FHSU rallied again, tying the score at 24, but ATU then finished things off with the final two points.
Fort Hays State left little doubt in the second set, playing highly efficient offense and suffocating defense to cruise to a 25-14 win. The Tigers posted an attack percentage of .323 in the second set while limiting ATU to a swing rate of just .030. Fort Hays State also tallied four service aces in the set, including three from Jaida Felix and one from Riley Tinder.
The Tigers never trailed in the third set, taking control early with five of the first six points before answering every ATU run. The Golden Suns rallied to tie things up five different times in the stanza, but the Tigers always responded with multiple-point runs to regain the momentum. The final tie occurred at 21-21 after a three-point Tech run, but two kills from Mykah Eshbaugh and another Tinder service ace helped the Tigers seal the 25-21 win.
Arkansas Tech came back strong in the fourth set, scoring eight of the first 10 points before leading by as many as seven, 14-7. The Tigers came roaring back midway through the set with four consecutive kills, including two from Gracie Rains, one from Emily Ellis and one from Caiya Stucky. ATU put a brief stop to the run before Ellis, Stucky and Rains all added another kill, helping the Tigers go in front 17-16. The teams traded points the rest of the way, with ATU eventually capitalizing on consecutive rallies to win 27-25.
The Golden Suns continued their strong push in the final set, outscoring the Tigers 8-1 before the teams changed sides. ATU later led by as many as eight, 12-4, before Fort Hays State came back to life. Two Golden Sun attack errors gave the Tigers life before Mya Vandrovec and Tinder helped the Tigers close within one, 13-12. Arkansas Tech followed with a kill, but the Tigers fought off back-to-back match points to tie things up at 14 with kills from Tinder and Rains. After the sides swapped points to keep the score knotted at 15, Rains and Stucky finished off the 17-15 win with back-to-back kills.
Tinder recorded her second double-double of the day, leading the team with 16 kills and 18 digs. She added four service aces and one solo block for 21.0 points. Stucky, Eshbaugh and Rains all added four kills each, with Rains swinging at a team-best .429 clip. Elysia Glowacz also picked up a double-double, recording 31 assists and 10 digs.