FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State volleyball team capped off a 4-0 opening weekend with a four-set victory over Eastern New Mexico Saturday on the third and final day of the 2026 FHSU Tiger Classic, winning 25-22, 25-8, 22-25, 25-15. The Tigers accumulated nine blocks and seven aces in the win, both season-highs for the squad.
Eastern New Mexico led for much of the opening set, going in front by as many as four and holding a three-point edge as late as 20-17. But two Ashlyn Reeves kills and a pair of Greyhound miscues soon pushed the home team in front, 21-20. Jaden Goldberg capped off the rally with a service ace, giving the home team a 25-22 win.
FHSU's offensive explosion from Friday returned in the second set, with the Tigers hitting .539 and recording zero errors in the stanza. Seven different Tigers combined for 15 kills in the set, including five on nine swings from Peyton Bergschneider. FHSU scored eight of the first nine points and put together four different rallies of four or more consecutive points to lead to a dominant 25-8 win. After distributing seven assists in the set, Annie Eaton sealed the win with back-to-back aces.
The Greyhounds bounced back in the third set, winning 25-22 to keep the match alive. The tightly-contested frame included 10 ties and four lead changes with neither side leading by more than three at any point. FHSU led as late as 14-13, but a 5-1 run put the visitors back on top. A Carsyn Cormaney service ace helped the Tigers to a three-point run later in the frame to tie the score at 20, but ENMU scored five of the final seven points to extend the match.
The fourth set started out the same way, with the teams splitting the first 29 points down the middle, 15-14 in favor of the Tigers. But FHSU took the reins down the stretch, coming out of a timeout and finishing the match on a 10-1 run. The final push included eight kills from five different Tigers and a pair of blocks, culminated by a Mylie Brown kill.
Bergschnieder paced the team with 12 kills on 20 attempts without any errors, while Brown also reached double figures with 10 kills. Haylee Wolf picked up 18 assists in the win, while Eaton tallied 27 assists and three aces. FHSU hit .349 as a team, surpassing the .300 mark for the third match in a row.
FHSU will play its next nine matches on the road before returning home to open conference play on September 16 against No. 7 Nebraska-Kearney. The road trip opens with five matches in Colorado next week, including a road rematch with Regis in Denver (Sept. 2, 6 p.m. CT) followed by four matches in Grand Junction at the Volley in the Valley tournament (Sept. 4-5).