FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. – Fort Hays State split a pair of thrilling five-set matches on Saturday at Gross Memorial Coliseum in Hays. The Tigers fought off a pesky Kansas Wesleyan team in their first match of the day, winning the final two sets, but then fell to Rockhurst in a win-by-two situation in the fifth set of the night cap. FHSU topped KWU by scores of 25-15, 23-25, 24-26, 25-19, 15-12. The Tigers fell just short to Rockhurst 25-22, 15-25, 19-25, 29-27, 14-16.
Fort Hays State 3, Kansas Wesleyan 2
Fort Hays State edged Kansas Wesleyan in the first contest, having to rally from down two sets to one. Kansas Wesleyan edged the Tigers by two points in both the second and third sets to take the lead. FHSU comfortably won the fourth set, but then had to battle back from an 8-4 deficit in the fifth to win 15-12. A key 8-1 run flipped the Tigers from four down to three up as they held off the Coyotes' charge.
Fort Hays St. capitalized on a strong offensive performance with 77 kills and a .306 hitting percentage. Kansas Wesleyan hit .233 as a team in the match, but really gained momentum to get past FHSU in the middle of the match when it hit .432 in the second set.
Fort Hays raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first set. Despite a brief pushback from Kansas Wesleyan, the Tigers maintained control as five different players had at least three kills in the set, led by Ella Goodwin with four.
Kansas Wesleyan upped its intensity in the second set and stunned the Tigers with a late rally to even up the match. FHSU led 21-16, but saw KWU go on a 9-2 run to take the set by two. Rylee Serpan, who became the all-time leader in kills at Kansas Wesleyan in the match, put down the decisive kill. Goodwin had another strong set with four kills, matched by Grace Schmedding.
Kansas Wesleyan continued its momentum with a 5-1 run to start the third. The Tigers finally pulled back even at 13-13, but took until 16-15 to take their first lead. FHSU led by two a handful of times, but never could get separation and the Coyotes. KWU had a 4-1 burst to win by two, 26-24, and take the lead in the match. Kylee Harris had a big set for KWU with seven kills, while Carsen Cormaney of FHSU nearly matched her with six.
The Tigers weathered the storm with a 6-2 run to open the fourth. They went on to lead by nine a few times before taking the set by six. Ashlyn Reeves led the Tigers with six kills in the set to help even up the match.
The Tigers had to battle from behind in the fifth set, down 8-4. A pivotal moment came when Rains sparked momentum with two consecutive kills, leveling the score at 8-8. Fort Hays State then surged ahead 12-9 with an ace by Hope Duncan and a pair of kills by Schmedding. Goodwin sealed the match with a final kill, ensuring a 15-12 victory
Goodwin led the Tigers with 16 kills, followed by Rains with 15, Reeves with 14, Cormaney with 12, and Schmedding with 10. Abrey Galt shelled out 40 assists, while Kirsten Evans led the Tigers in service aces with three and digs with 16. Schmedding had a double-double in kills and digs (12).
Harris led the Coyotes with 19 kills, while Serpan added 16 and Maddy Wolf had 12.
Rockhurst 3, Fort Hays State 2
Just like the first contest of the day, Fort Hays State fell down two sets to one, but rallied for a thrilling 29-27 win in the fourth set to extend the match. The fifth set was tight at the end, but ultimately taken by Rockhurst 16-14.
The opening set was a tightly contested affair, with Fort Hays State and Rockhurst exchanging points early. The Tigers' Gracie Rains delivered key kills at 7-6 and 19-15, while Annie Eaton consistently facilitated the offense with eight assists in the set. A late surge, including a service ace by Peyton Bergschneider, helped the Tigers clinch the opening set 25-22 with a kill from Grace Schmedding.
Rockhurst pulled away with the second set thanks to a big 8-0 run, taking an 8-7 lead to 16-7. Molly Trachta of Rockhurst had three aces within the run. The lead eventually grew to 11 before the final set margin of 10. Schmedding led the Tigers with five kills in the set.
Another big run helped Rockhurst pull away in the third set. Rockhurst took a 5-3 lead to 10-3 with a 5-0 burst. FHSU applied pressure cutting the lead down to two three times, but a 5-1 run by Rockhurst closed out the set. Peyton Bergschneider led the Tigers with four kills in the frame.
The Tigers fell down early in the fourth, but chipped away and took the lead in the middle of the set. Eventually Rockhurst led 20-16 with a 4-0 burst, but the Tigers battled back once more, fighting off two match points to get into a win-by-two situation at 24-24. Eventually Ashlyn Reeves put down a pair of kills to extend the match after the teams battled to a 27-27 tie. She stepped up in the clutch for FHSU with eight kills in the set.
The Tigers had another uphill climb in front of them in the fifth, down 10-5. However, Gracie Rains started a four-point burst for FHSU with a pair of kills, while Kirsten Evans added a kill as well. A big-time block from Carsyn Cormaney and Ella Goodwin leveled the score at 11-11, but the Hawks went on another burst to get to match point at 14-11. Gracie Rains responded with a kill, Rockhurst committed an error, and then Ella Goodwin and Cormaney tied the set at 14-14 with an assisted block. However, Rockhurst responded with two kills in the win-by-two scenario and escaped Gross Memorial Coliseum with the win. Rains led the Tigers with four kills in the final frame.
Rains led the Tigers with 16 kills followed by Reeves with 14. Abrey Galt had 27 assists, while Grace Schmedding finished with 10 digs.
Sarah Pyle led Rockhurst with 25 kills, while Alyssa McDonald added 12. Katie Vargo had 21 digs.
Looking ahead, Fort Hays State will host the Tiger Classic next week with four more matches at home. The tournament runs Sept. 11-12 at Gross Memorial Coliseum.