FHSU Athletics
EDMOND, Okla. - The Fort Hays State volleyball team took No. 23 Central Oklahoma to the brink on Friday, narrowly falling in five sets 23-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-22 and 13-15. The Tigers (16-10, 3-6 MIAA) scored more points (106-104), posted a better attack percentage (.191-.162), recorded more blocks (11-7) and more digs (106-96) than the Bronchos (18-5, 5-2 MIAA), but the home team did just enough to secure the win.
Fort Hays State's 106 digs are the most for the team in more than a decade (111 vs. Missouri Western, 11/6/15).
The back-and-forth affair included 35 ties and 13 lead changes. FHSU pushed the first set to the finish after turning a 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 lead on Carsyn Cormaney's serve, a stretch that included her ace and an Ashlyn Reeves-Mylie Brown block. The Tigers led by as many as four at the midway point, 13-9, on an Annie Eaton service ace. The set stayed tight late, with Peyton Bergschneider's kill tying it at 22-22. UCO answered by taking three of the final four points to close out the set 25-23.
The Tigers controlled the second set with two key runs while limiting the Bronchos to a .000 swing rate in the frame (8-8-43) with five blocks. Trailing 8-7, FHSU claimed seven of the next eight to take a five-point lead. The run included kills from Brown, Bergschneider and Reeves. The Tigers added four straight service points on Eaton's serve later in the set, with Cormaney putting down back-to-back kills for a 19-10 lead. FHSU finished the set at 25-17 on a block by Reeves and Brown.
FHSU had the third set tied at 19-19, the 13th tie of the frame, but the home team scored six of the final seven points to take the set 25-20. Reeves' block helped the Tigers get within 19-18, and Ella Goodwin finished with four kills in the set as FHSU kept answering until Central Oklahoma's late push.
Reeves helped the Tigers force a fifth set with a late rally in the fourth, recording kills on five of FHSU's final seven points in the frame. The Tigers trailed throughout, including by as many as five points midway through, 14-9. But three straight Reeves kills finally gave the Tigers the lead, 21-20, before a UCO attack error and a Brown kill stretched the advantage to 23-20. Reeves later pushed things to set point before finishing the rally with her sixth kill on 12 swings in the set, sealing the 25-22 win.
FHSU nearly erased a five-point deficit late in the fifth set, trimming a 12-7 margin to 13-12 on kills by Cormaney and Goodwin around multiple Broncho errors. Goodwin later kept the Tigers alive with a kill on match point, but the Bronchos finished off the next opportunity to escape with a 15-13 win.
Goodwin led the Tigers with 16 kills, adding six digs and three block assists. Reeves recorded 13 kills while hitting .355 and adding seven total blocks, moving the senior within one block of moving into fourth at FHSU during the DII era (Lynn Smith, 1993-94, 374 career blocks). Eaton tallied 44 assists and 25 digs, adding three block assists and a service ace. Haylee Wolf collected 26 digs and added seven assists.
The Tigers will be back in action Saturday (Oct. 24) when they take on Newman in Wichita, Kan. at 3 p.m.