MOUNT PLEASANT, Iowa - Webster University Volleyball began defense of its 2018 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference regular season title here Thursday evening at Ruble Arena by posting a three-set sweep (25-23, 25-19, 25-21) over Iowa Wesleyan in the 2019 SLIAC opener for both teams.
With the win, Webster, who went 16-2 last season in SLIAC play and shared the regular season league title with Greenville, improved to 3-2 on the season and 1-0 in the league, while Iowa Wesleyan fell to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the league. In addition, the Gorloks have now won 45 consecutive sets in league play dating to last season's four set match at home against Eureka on Sept. 18.
In Thursday's match, which was the first for the Gorloks since their four set win last Wednesday at St. Louis College of Pharmacy, Webster hit .177 as team and held the Tigers to an .077 attack percentage.
The Gorloks finished the night with 34 kills, including a team-high 11 kills from junior outside hitter
Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo). In addition to her 13 kills, Kruse added 14 digs for her second consecutive double-double. In addition to Kruse's 11 kills, senior right side hitter
Sarah Jacobs (Carbondale, Ill./Murphysboro) added eight kills and hit .438 in the win. Kruse hit .300 on the night.
Defensively, Webster recorded 65 digs and had five total team blocks, including three blocks from junior middle hitter
Jordan Price (Fulton, Ill./Carl Sandburg College). Along with Kruse's 14 digs, junior libero
Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) led the way with a match-high 23 digs and has now recorded 20 or more digs in all five matches this season and eight straight overall dating to last season. With her 23 digs, Farrah moved over the 1,400 career dig plateau as she has now recorded 1,411 digs in her Webster career.
Sophomore setter
Ali Spohr (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) and junior setter
Emma Larson (Bellevue, Neb./Bellevue West) combined for 25 assists and 10 digs in the win. Spohr finished with a season high 15 assists and added two digs, while Larson, who earned the start in Thursday's match, had 10 assists and eight digs.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the first set, before the Gorloks used a 5-3 run to turn a 9-7 deficit into a 12-all tie. IWU, though, would respond as they scored four of the next five points to take a 16-13 lead. WU would answer with a 9-3 run to take a 22-19 lead. The run was keyed by six errors from the Tigers and capped by a kill from sophomore right side hitter
Natasha Norris (Elgin, Texas/Carol Morgan). The Tigers wouldn't go away as they scored four of the next five points to tie the set at 23-all, before the Gorloks would close the set by scoring the final two points to seal the 25-23 win. In the set, WU hit .120 and IWU hit .111 as the two teams combined for 21 kills.
In the second set, IWU once again took an early lead and led 13-12 when the Gorloks used a 5-0 scoring run to take a 17-13 lead. After a service errror by Spohr stopped WU's run, the Gorloks would use an 8-1 run to push its lead to 24-15. The Tigers, though, responded by scoring four straight points to pull within 24-19, but an assisted block by Price and sophomore middle hitter
Samantha Hoff (Sterling Heights, Mich./Sterling Heights) on an attack attempt by Breanna Mettler sealed WU's 25-19 win to take a 2-0 lead in the match. In the set, WU hit .189 and held IWU to an .000 attack percentage.
The Gorloks jumped in front 9-3 in the third set and led 15-5 when the Tigers used an 11-1 run to drop WU's lead to 16-12. The Gorloks, though, responded with a 3-2 run to push its lead to 19-14. IWU would answer right back with a 4-1 run to pull within 20-18. Spohr and Kruse would record back-to-back kills to help the Gorloks close out the set on a 5-3 run, including sealing the 25-21 set win with a kill from Jacobs. In the set, WU hit .233 with 14 kills, while IWU hit .114 with nine kills.
Lida Lande paced the Tigers with a match-high 14 kills and hit .229, while Jenna Murphy, who was named this week's SLIAC Defensive Player of the Week, had 15 digs. Paige Kammerer an Ariel Smale each had double-doubles for the Tigers as Kammerer had 14 assists and 10 digs and Samle recorded 13 assists and 12 digs.
IWU had five aces, while the Gorloks finished with two aces.
The Gorloks will remain in the Hawkeye State for three matches this weekend at the Wartburg Knight Classic hosted by Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Webster will open the event at 4 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 13 against Coe College, before facing the host school, Wartburg, at 6 p.m. and concluding the event on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 12 p.m. against Concordia-Minnesota.
