FHSU Athletics
HAYS, Kan. - The Fort Hays State volleyball team collected its first league win Saturday with a five-set win over Newman, 25-12, 20-25, 25-15, 20-25, 15-13. The Tigers (6-6, 1-3 MIAA) trailed by as many as four in the final set before winning six of the final seven rallies to complete the victory.
Fort Hays State never trailed in the first set, scoring the first three points en route to an early 10-4 lead. The Tigers scored eight in a row with Elysia Glowacz behind the service line, including two service aces and two kills each from Mykah Eshbaugh and Emily Ellis. The lead later ballooned to 13 with Jaida Felix serving the Tigers to a 6-0 run that featured one ace, two Claire Olson kills and one Olson/Morgan Christiansen combo block. Olson later helped the Tigers reach set point with a kill before a Jet error ended the 25-12 blowout. Five different Tigers collected multiple kills in the opening set, including three each from Eshbaugh, Ellis, Christiansen and Olson.
Newman led by six early in the second set before the Tigers rallied back with five-consecutive points to tie things up at 13. The Jets (6-7, 1-3 MIAA) bounced back with a 6-0 run to take back the lead for good, going on to tie the match with a 25-20 win. After hitting .407 as a team in the first set, the Tigers posted an attack percentage of .108 in the second frame.
The Tigers got back on track in the third set behind efficient swinging from Eshbaugh and Ellis and a flurry of blocks on defense. Eshbaugh tallied six kills on 11 attempts in the set, while Ellis totaled four kills on eight swings in addition to six blocks (one solo). The senior duo helped FHSU swing at a .393 clip in the third set while the Tiger defense limited Newman to a .029 attack rate.
There were five ties in the third, including as late as 9-9, before FHSU took complete control thanks to a 14-2 run. The Tigers picked up five of their seven third-set blocks in that run before an authoritative kill from Ellis gave the Tigers the 25-15 win.
Fort Hays State seemed poised to finish things off in four, but the visitors had other plans. In a set that featured five ties and four lead changes, the Tigers found themselves up 18-16 before a 9-2 Jet run sent things to a deciding fifth set.
Newman captured five of the first six points in the fifth set to take a four-point lead before FHSU scored four in a row to tie things up at seven. Felix opened the run with a quick kill before Glowacz dropped in another service ace. Eshbaugh and Riley Tinder followed with kills to level the score before Newman scored three in a row to go back in front.
Two kills from Tinder and another from Felix broke up the momentum and again tied the score at 12 before a Jet error gave the Tigers their first lead of the set. Newman momentarily knotted things up again before Christiansen recorded a kill and teamed up with Olson for a match-clinching block.
The Tigers posted a .222 attack percentage for the day while holding the Jets to a swing rate of .150. FHSU racked up a season-high 14 blocks in the win, including eight from Ellis (one solo) and five each from Christiansen (one solo) and Olson.
Eshbaugh led the Tigers with 15 kills alongside 10 digs for her second double-double of the year. Ellis tallied 13 kills while Christiansen also reached double figures with 12. Olson racked up nine kills and four digs, with Tinder leading the team with 21 digs alongside eight kills. Glowacz finished the day with four service aces and eight assists, while Felix paced the squad with 35 assists and Caiya Stucky added 12.
Fort Hays State will be back on the road for three-consecutive contests before returning to Gross Memorial Coliseum on Oct. 1 to take on Northwest Missouri State for the annual Dig Pink match. Next weekend's road trip includes matches at Central Missouri on Friday (Sept. 23, 6 p.m.) and at Missouri Western on Saturday (Sept. 24, 6 p.m.).