No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney 3, Fort Hays State 0
KEARNEY, Neb. -- Fifth-ranked Nebraska-Kearney served up eight aces and senior outside Ashley Leitner kept up her torrid offensive pace as the Lopers swept Fort Hays State (25-18, 25-8, 25-16) Tuesday night at the Health & Sports Center.
A crowd of 1,352 watched the MIAA opener for both teams. With the win, UNK improves to 9-1 while the Tigers fall to 0-6. Kearney is now 79-9 all-time against FHSU.
During the first nine matches, Leitner was averaging just above four kills per set and hitting .308. Those numbers will improve after she recorded 11 kills in just 18 swings tonight with no errors (.611 attack pct.).
Hitting .351 as a team, UNK broke a nine-all tie in the first set with a 7-3 spurt that featured back-to-back kills by Leitner and a kill by sophomore setter Erin Seele. Hays didn't get closer than three points the rest of the set with two more Leitner kills giving UNK a 1-0 match lead.
No. 6 Washburn 3, Emporia State 0
EMPORIA, Kan. -- Marissa Cox and Leanna Willer reached double figures in kills as Washburn swept Emporia State 25-21, 25-22, 25-22 Tuesday night to open the MIAA season.
The third set was tied 11 times, the last at 21-21 after a 4-0 Hornet run. Sarah Vicory set down a kill that started a 3-0 run for Washburn to get to match point. After an ESU kill, Marissa Cox got her second consecutive and 11th of the night to end the match.
Cox hit .409 with two errors in 22 attempts. Willer had a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Washburn blocked six shots with Hannah Frierdich getting a hand on five of them. Kelsey Lewis led the Washburn defense with 24 digs and Abby Wittman had 38 assists.
No. 7 Central Missouri 3, Missouri Southern 0
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- The Central Missouri Jennies improved to 10-0, 1-0 in the MIAA, with a 3-0 win against Missouri Southern on Tuesday night at the UCM Multipurpose Building. The match took just 65 minutes as the Jennies rolled to the 25-9, 25-10, 25-16 win.
The Jennies had an explosive first set, holding the Lions (3-5, 0-1 MIAA) to under 10 points. Maddie Jones and Haley Thompson both had three kills in the first set, Thompson also added two block assists with Becca Blaise.
The Lions lost 10 points in the second set, as a result of attack, service, and ball-handling errors. Reilly finished the second set with four total serving aces, and Thompson had another four kills in the set.
