FHSU Athletics
DENVER - The Fort Hays State volleyball team never trailed Wednesday in a three-set sweep against Regis, winning 25-18, 25-15, 25-13. The Tigers (5-0) hit .299 for the match and held the Rangers (1-4) to .037, with a 45-25 advantage in kills. Fort Hays State's defense chipped in 51 digs and nine total blocks, helping the Tigers sweep the Rangers for the second time in six days.
After the teams traded the first six points, Fort Hays State scored six in a row to take control. Ashlyn Reeves started the push with a kill before Haylee Wolf served the final five points of the surge to make it 9-3. A pair of Peyton Bergschneider kills later pushed FHSU to a 6-1 run, padding the lead to 15-6. The visitors eventually led by as many as 10, but a 5-0 Regis run narrowed the gap to 23-18, prompting a Tiger timeout. FHSU soon took the set 25-18 when Reeves and Sofia Ricci teamed up for a block.
In the second set, the teams traded five-point runs early before Fort Hays State separated with Annie Eaton at the service line, scoring another 5-0 run to move from 12-10 to 17-10 including kills from Ricci, Reeves and Ella Goodwin. The Tigers maintained the pressure from there, ending a 25-15 win with three kills in the final four rallies from Bergschneider.
The Tigers led wire-to-wire in the third set, taking the first three points on two kills from Reeves and a third from Goodwin. FHSU created separation by winning seven of eight rallies, stretching a 6-3 lead to a 13-4 advantage with kills from five different Tigers. Goodwin helped the Tigers reach match point with her 10th kill of the match before Bergschneider sealed the 25-13 win with her 12th kill off a pass from Sophie Sander.
Reeves joined Bergschneider and Goodwin in double figures with 10 kills, while Goodwin (five blocks, two solo), Reeves (four blocks) and Ricci (four blocks, one solo) all had at least four blocks in the win. Eaton handed out 25 assists and collected seven digs, with Wolf and Hope Duncan matching with a team-high 11 digs each.
The Tigers will continue their road trip in Colorado Friday and Saturday (Sept. 4-5) at the Volley in the Valley tournament in Grand Junction. FHSU will first take on Fairmont State (2 p.m./1 p.m. MT) and host Colorado Mesa (7 p.m./6 p.m. MT) on day one before tussling with Adams State (noon/11 a.m. MT) and Sul Ross State (4:30 p.m./3:30 p.m. MT) on day two.