HAYS - The Fort Hays State volleyball team split another doubleheader on Friday, going 1-1 on the opening day of the 2021 Tiger Classic inside Gross Memorial Coliseum. In their first match, the Tigers gave No. 16 Southwest Minnesota State all it could handle, taking the opening set against the undefeated Mustangs before narrowly dropping the next three frames. FHSU followed that up with a dominating win over Cameron, outhitting the Aggies .391 to -.012.
The Tigers are now 3-3 on the year after winning one match and losing one match on each of the first three days of competition. Southwest Minnesota State is now 6-0 on the year, while Cameron dipped to 1-6 overall.
Fort Hays State continued its well-balanced offensive attack, with six different players picking up at least 10 kills through the two contests. Morgan Christiansen and Riley Tinder both picked up 15 kills on the day, while Emily Ellis added 12 kills and 13 blocks. Elysia Glowacz dished out 39 assists, with Jaida Felix close behind with 34. Tinder also led the team with 24 digs on the day.
Fort Hays State wraps up the home weekend with two more matches on Saturday. The Tigers will first battle Black Hills State at 1:30 p.m. before hosting Adams State at 5 p.m. to conclude the tournament.
No. 16 Southwest Minnesota State 3, Fort Hays State 1 (25-22, 20-25, 21-25, 22-25)
The Tigers came out of the gates hot, holding the 16th-ranked team in the country to a .000 attack percentage in the opening set while winning 25-22. Neither team could gain much of an edge through the majority of the opening set, with neither side leading by more than three points until a late Tiger run.
With the score tied at 18, Fort Hays State grabbed all the momentum with a 6-1 run to go in front 24-19. A Mustang error opened the run before three-consecutive blocks by the Tigers kept things rolling. Ellis teamed up with Claire Olson on the first two rejections before assisting Tinder on the final block, pushing the lead to 22-18.
After a Tiger error, kills from Ellis and Christiansen helped the Tigers reach match point. A service miscue four rallies later gave FHSU a 25-22 victory.
The Tigers again kept things close in the second set, leading as late as 15-14. But Southwest Minnesota State took control down the stretch, using an 8-3 run to turn a 17-17 tie into a 25-20 win.
The same was true in the next two sets, with neither side leading by more than four at any point. SMSU used late runs in both the third and fourth sets to hang on to the victory.
Christiansen led the Tigers with nine kills while adding six blocks and one service ace. Ellis recorded seven kills and seven blocks and posted an attack percentage of .294. Olson accumulated eight kills and added four blocks.
Mykah Eshbaugh also totaled eight kills, with Isabelle Reynolds adding seven kills and five blocks. Tinder picked up five blocks, two assists, one service ace and a team-best 16 digs.
Glowacz led the Tigers with 22 assists, while Felix recorded a double-double with 19 assists and 10 digs.
Fort Hays State picked up 13 blocks in the win while adding 62 digs as a team on defense. SMSU held a slight edge in attack percentage, .200 to .162.
Fort Hays State 3, Cameron 0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-10)
The Tigers took care of business in the night cap, cruising past the Aggies in straight sets. Fort Hays State recorded just eight attack errors in the match while holding Cameron to 18 kills and 19 errors.
Fort Hays State never trailed by more than one point in the victory. Cameron led as late as 7-6 in the second set and 4-3 in the third set, while FHSU was never behind in the opening frame.
Tinder went to work in the opening set, dropping in five kills in a 6-1 FHSU run midway through the frame that stretched the lead to 20-10. The Tigers blew the second set open with a 7-0 run to reach set point before using an 8-0 run to pull away in the final stanza.
Tinder did not make an attacking error in the win, totaling 11 kills on 19 swings for a .579 attack percentage. She added eight digs and one block on defense.
Reynolds chipped in seven kills and seven digs, with Christiansen compiling six kills and two blocks. Ellis totaled five kills and six blocks, including one solo rejection.
Glowacz picked up 17 assists and one service ace while Felix contributed 15 assists, two aces and five digs.
FHSU Athletics