This weekend was a big one for the University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team. After finishing as the top team in the western division of the GLVC, the team had high hopes going into the championship playoffs.
The Tritons easily took the first match, but in the semifinals ran into a team they did not expect.
In the first game against Bellarmine University, it was business as usual for the Tritons. It only took three games to end Bellarmine's season and propel the University of Missouri-St. Louis into the semifinals the next day.
The first game ended 25-15 and the second was the same score. In the third game, Bellarmine was able to keep it close, but in the end they were simply out-matched by the nearly perfect Triton offense.
In the entire match the Tritons only committed 12 errors; seven of them came in the second game. In the first game UM-St. Louis put up 17 kills on two errors. In the next two games they were able to get 16 kills in both.
Four Tritons reached the double digit mark in kills as Kelsie Rankin, freshman, undecided, led the team with 11.
Sarah Eisnaugle, junior, graphic design, Elizabeth Cook, sophomore, undecided and GLVC Freshman Player of the Year Weslie Gaff, freshman, biology/pre-dentistry, all ended the night with 10 kills.
Cook and Rankin also ended in double-doubles as the amassed 10 digs as well. Joslyn Brown, senior, business & criminal justice, was her normal defensive self, leading the team in digs with 12.
Lisa Brinker, senior, marketing management & organizational behavior, led the offense with 43 assists.
The win advanced the Tritons to play the University of Southern Indiana Eagles. The Eagles upset nationally-ranked Northern Kentucky University and carried that momentum into the first game against the Tritons.
After going on an 8-3 run in the first game the Tritons were down 13-20. They recovered with a 7-2 run of their own to bring the game closer 20-22. They were unable to keep up the comeback, as the Eagles won the 25-22.
In the second game the two teams could not have been more evenly matched. The game was tied 11 times.
The Tritons took an early lead, 4-1, but then watched it disappear as the Eagles went up by four 14-18. As always in volleyball a team must win by two and as the Eagles finally got to 25 points the Tritons were just one behind them.
The game went back and forth with one team going up by one point and then the other tying the game back up until finally Southern Indiana took the second game 33-31.
The third game saw the Tritons keep the game close at first. Only down three, the Eagles ran away with the game and the match, winning 25-16 and sending UM-St. Louis home one game short of the Championship.
The Tritons had problems at the net as the Eagles were able to block 21 of UM-St. Louis' attempts. Cook led the team in kills with 16 and Brown had 18 digs, but it was not enough as the team committed 26 errors on the night. Brinker also added 34 assists.
The loss drops the Tritons' record to 23-8 and may be the end of the season for the Tritons.
Now they will have to wait to hear from the NCAA selection committee to see if they will be playing in the NCAA Championship Tournament or not.
Awards
Conference tournament time also means award time for the GLVC. This year the Tritons brought home a few prestigious awards.
First year head coach Trent Jones was named the GLVC Coach of the Year and Gaff was named the freshman player of the year in the GLVC.
If that is not good enough Gaff was also named to the All-Conference first team.
Also bringing home hardware for the Tritons were Brinker and Cook as they were selected to the GLVC Al-Conference second team.
Coach Jones led the team to their first 20 game win season in nearly ten years.
Only one other coach in the University of Missouri-St. Louis' history has ever been selected coach of the year.
Gaff led the Tritons in blocks with 92 and kill percentage with .305 on the season. She was also second in kills with 270, averaging 2.7 in conference play.
Be the first to comment on this article!