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October 13, 2009 -- The #8 Emporia State volleyball team hit only .250, but used seven blocks and took advantage of 28 Southwest Baptist erros on the way to the 3-0 sweep. ESU hit over .300 in the first two sets before struggling in the third on the way to the 25-18, 25-13 and 27-25 win.
In set number Ting Liu opened the scoring serving for two straight as ESU, though the Bearcats would respond eventually tieing the match at 6-6. ESU would scored 12 of the next 16 points, mostly behind the serving of Katelyn Schmidtberger who had the Hornets only ace of the night. ESU wouldn't look back from there rolling to the 25-18 victory.
In the second set ESU jumped out to a 4-2 lead, but again found themselves tied with the Bearcats at six. After that tie moved to nine ESU would scored nine of the next 11 to take a 18-11 advantage. Six points is as close as SBU would get for the rest of the match as ESU cruised to the 25-13 win.
In the final set ESU staked itself to a 6-3 lead before the Bearcats roared back and took a 9-8 advantage. The two teams would bounce back and fourth with neither side gaining an edge of more than two points at a time, before SBU got on a roll and took a 22-17 lead. ESU fought back as they would tie the game at 24-24 forcing extra volleyball. All-American Ting Liu netted the teams final kill as they pulled out the 27-25 victory.
All-American Arica Shepard hit a season high .640 as she led the squad with a match high 17 kills. The kills move her into eighth place all-time in the MIAA in kills as she passes Pittsburg State's Dina Wathan, and she will need only seven more kills to pass Pittsburg State's Sammie Williams. Brittney Miller pushed her streak of double figure kill matches to three as she finished with ten kills on the night. Amy Byfield had her 16th straight double-figure dig match with 15 on the night. She is now the Emporia State career record holder in double-figure dig matches with 98 in her career. She also moved into tenth all-time in the MIAA in digs passing Pam Randell of Pittsburg State. Ting Liu added 35 assists along with three kills on the night for ESU.
The Hornets will now return home for a top-ten Turnpike Tussle when Washburn comes to visit on Friday, Oct. 16. First serve for the match is set for 7 p.m. from W. L. White Auditorium. This will be the first meeting between the two since then #6 ESU defeated then #10 WU 3-0 in front of an MIAA record crowd of 2,432 at White Auditorium on Nov. 14, 2008 to secure the Hornets first MIAA volleyball championship. Heading into this week's action, the two teams have a combined record of 41-4 on the year.
The match has been designated a "Gold Rush" Night at White Auditorium with the first 100 ESU students receiving a free "Be Loud, Gold & Proud" t-shirt and the first 200 fans overall getting a free mini-volleyball courtesy of the match sponsor, Emporia State Federal Credit Union. Three lucky fans will also be selected for a chance to win free money between sets two and three, courtesy of ESFCU. It will also be "Greek Night" at White with a plaque presented at a later match to the most enthusiastic Greek organization.
And for the first time in Emporia State history, KFFX-FM will provide live play by play of a Hornet volleyball match on Friday, October 16 when ESU takes on Washburn. Coverage of the top ten version of the Turnpike Tussle will begin at 6:50 p.m. on Mix 104.9 FM and kvoe.com.
NOTES:
Amy Byfield is now the ESU career record holder in double-figure dig matches with 98
Arica Shepard had her eighth straight match hitting above .300, she is now hitting .348 for the year
Shepard needs just seven kills entering the Washburn match to pass PSU's Sammie Williams for seventh place all-time in the MIAA
ESU has now won six straight they are 20-2 on the year, 7-1 in the MIAA.
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Nov. 19 at TBA in Warrensburg, Mo.