The Webster University volleyball team dropped two matches at the Active Ankle Invite, 3-2, to Thomas More College (KY), and 3-0 to host Washington University, on October 6 in Clayton, MO. The Gorloks ran into two tough squads, in the perennially competitive Thomas More and the #21 ranked Wash U, taking Thomas More to the wire but running out of gas against the Bears.
Set one vs Thomas More was a see-saw affair early, with tied scores of 7-7, 11-11, 14-14, and 16-16, before Webster took a 21-17 lead at the Saints called timeout. When Thomas More closed to 23-22, it was Webster's turn to call a timeout. A kill by Ashley Robinson (SR, Bloomington, IL/Bloomington) and an error on the Saints gave the Gorloks a 25-22 win.
With the score, 6-5 Saints early in
set two, Thomas More broke out and took a 15-7, that extended to 18-11 as they coasted to a 25-15 final. The Gorloks, who hit will in the set one win at .222, only managed seven kills as they hit .077 for the set.
In
set three, Kills by Torie Grassi (JR, St. Louis, MO/Rosati-Kain), Macee Owen (JR, Tucson, AZ/Empire, and Jenna Rodriguez (SO, Freeburg, IL/Freeburg) turned a 4-4 score into an 8-4 Webster lead as Thomas More called a timeout. An error by the Saints and kills by Owen and Grassi staked Webster to an 11-4 lead. Later, a kill and service ace by Taylor Kissel (SO, St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South) extended the Gorloks lead to 17-9.
But the Saints took charge, going on a 12-5 run to cut the Gorloks's lead to one at 22-21, A service error by the Saints made it 23-21 but a service error by the Gorloks cut the lead back to one at 23-22. A Samantha Budrovich (JR, St. Louis, MO/Lutheran South) kill put Webster at set point at 24-22. After the Saints closed back to one, a Grassi kill gave Webster a 25-23 set win, and a 2-1 lead.
The two teams battled it out again in
set four, with ties at 5-5, 11-11, and 13-13. Webster took a 17-13 lead, but Thomas More came right back at 17-16 as the Gorloks called timeout. Thomas More would tie it again at 18-18, but Webster took a 20-18 lead on a Saint error and a Kissel kill. But Thomas More would take a 23-21 lead as Gorlok errors led to four of the five Saint points. Thomas More won the set, 25-22, tying the match at 2-2 and forcing the tie-breaker.
In the
tie-breaker, the Gorloks seemed to have lost momentum after not being able to close out the fourth set, falling behind, 5-1. Webster would close to within two at 8-6, but the Saints closed it out with a 7-1 run for a 15-7 tie-breaker win and the match, 3-2.
Budrovich wound up with a team-high 10 kills, and Samantha Kruse (FR, Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) had eight for Webster. Kelsey Hamann (JR, Waterloo, IL/Waterloo) had 20 assists and Maria Soffner (SR, St. Louis, MO/Incarnate Word Academy) had 23 digs. The Saints gave the Gorloks opportunities, committing 16 service errors in the match, but they also had a solo block and 14 block assists to Webster's six block assists.
In the second match vs. Washington U, the Gorloks came out dragging after the draining loss to Thomas More. They lost the first set, 25-10, and put up a better fight in the second at 25-15. Webster made a run in set three, trailing 13-10 before the Bears had a 7-0 run to take a 20-10 lead. The Gorloks took three more points in a row, including a kill by Rachel Mencel (SR, Colchester, IL/West Prairie) to make it 20-13. At 22-13, Webster had another three-point run, this time including a kill by Kruse, to make it 22-16. Wash U closed it out at 25-17 to take the match, 3-0.
Webster had a team attack pct. of .021 while Washington U hit at an impressive .318 pct. Kissel led the way for Webster with six kills, while Hamann had eight assists and Soffner had 18 digs, putting her at 916 for her career, and moving her into 15th place on the Webster career list. For her efforts, Soffner was named to the Active Ankle Invite All-Tournament Team.
Thomas More, a member of the Presidents Athletic Conference, is now 18-4 on the year, riding a 15-match win streak. Washintgon University is now 12-6.
Webster is now 13-6 on the season. The Gorloks were winners of 12 of its last 13 matches coming into the Invitational. Webster returns to action in the SLIAC with a match at Principia College, on October 10 at Elsah, IL.
