WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University setter/right side hitter Ali Spohr (Quincy, Ill./Quincy) made history here Friday evening as the junior recorded just the third-ever triple-double in school history en route to helping the Gorloks post a four-set win win over Spalding (15-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-13) in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium. 

The Gorloks (3-1, 3-1 SLIAC), who began a three-match homestand on Friday, posted its second consecutive victory behind 15 kills, 16 assists and 11 digs from Spohr, who recorded Webster's first triple-double since Melanie Klingelhoefer tallied 59 assists, 10 kills and 10 digs in five sets against Anderson (Ind.) on Sept. 30, 2005. In fact, Spohr is just the second Gorlok player to post a triple-double in volleyball in the program's history as Klingerhoefer had two during her Hall of Fame career that spanned 2003-06. 

"Ali has been doing a great job for us and that's why we left her in the front row, typically, last year when she got on the court, she played the back row, but she's being very smart attacker and getting the job done so she's getting to play all six rotations," Webster head coach Merry Graf said.

Spohr's triple-double is just the second this season in NCAA Division III volleyball as Sul Ross State's Annika Canaba recorded a triple-double of 13 kills, 10 assists and 22 digs against McMurry (Texas). 

"I am more than honored to help this program and wasn't thinking about a triple-double, but I more happy about the team win we got tonight," Spohr said following the match. "All the credit to Coach (Matt) Saitz in the world. He really helped me, especially increase my vertical and foot speed."

In last Saturday's three-set loss at home to 25th-ranked Greenville, Spohr fell one kill shy of recording a triple-double as had nine kills, 13 assists and 13 digs against the Panthers. 

Along with Spohr's triple-double, sophomore outside hitter Lauren Borik (Belleville, Ill./Althoff) paced the Gorloks with a match and season-high 16 kills on a .324 hitting percentage. Junior outside/right side hitter Peyton Eikel (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Liberty) and sophomore middle hitter Julia Frey (Teutopolis, Ill./Teutopolis) had six and five kills respectively as the Gorloks finished with a season-high 50 kills on the night. 

While Spohr, who hit .220 in the match, had a triple-double, freshman setter Delaney Demman (Omaha, Neb./Central) had her best match of her young collegiate career as she tallied a double-double of 17 digs and 16 assists, both of which were season highs. Demman entered Friday's match having seen played in just one set last time out against Eureka. 

Along with recording season highs in kills, the Gorloks also had season highs in digs (74), blocks (6) and attack attempts (159). 

Despite having 50 kills, the Gorloks offense was not very efficient as they hit .145 with 27 errors on those 159 attacks. Webster hit under .125 in the opening sets, including hitting -.027 in dropping the first set, 25-15. After hitting a combined .041 in the first two sets, the Gorloks hit .292 in the third set and .158 in the fourth set as they combined for 30 kills and just 10 errors over those final two sets. 

Webster's defense, which held Spalding to an .093 attack percentage, was paced by 23 digs from junior libero Kyra Gensel (Clarkton, N.C./Harrells Chrisitan), while Frey and Spohr each had two blocks apiece as both players recorded solo blocks in the match. Borik also added a career-high tying three block assists. 

Spalding (2-3 overall, 2-3 SLIAC) was paced by 12 kills from Cassie Jones and 11 kills from Maggie Purichia. Five Golden Eagles had 10 or more digs in the match as Mya Summers had 14 of her team's 68 digs. 

The Gorloks will continue its three-match homestand on Saturday, Feb. 27 as they host Iowa Wesleyan in a 1 p.m. SLIAC match at Grant Gymnasium. Per SLIAC rules and regulations for COVID-19, fans will not be allowed at any of the league's indoor sporting events during the 2020-21 season.

Set 1: Spalding took the first set, 25-15 as they hit .194 and had 11 kills and watched the Gorloks recorded eight kills, but commit nine attack errors. In the set, Webster never held a lead as Spalding scored the first three points and led by as much as 12 points at 21-9. After the Golden Eagles took that 12 point lead, the Gorloks would take advantage of four straight errors by Spalding to push within 21-13. Summers stopped WU's run with a kill and that helped the Golden Eagles score four of the set's final six points to seal the set win. 

Set 2: The second match was a back-and-forth affair throughout as it featured nine ties and three lead changes, until the Gorloks broke a 22-all tie by scoring the final three points of the set to seal the 25-22 win and even the match. Much like the first set, Spalding scored the first three points and led 6-3 when Webster used a 10-3 run to take a 13-9 lead. The run began with a kill by Borik and was capped by an ace from Spohr. Spalding, though, responded with a 6-2 run to tie the set at 15-all. Webster would score three of the next four points, including capping the run with back-to-back kills by Spohr, to take an 18-16 lead. The lead was short-lived as Spalding scored four of the next six points to tie things up at 20. The teams would then trade points until the Gorloks scored the final three points of the set to seal the win. In the set, Webster hit .111 as they had 12 kills, 16 digs and three blocks, while Spalding hit .000 with 10 kills and a total of 12 errors. 

Set 3: Webster was able to finally take control of the third set after using an 11-4 run to turn a 7-all tie into an 18-11 lead. Spohr and Borik combined for five of their 12 kills in the set during the run. The Golden Eagles, though, wouldn't respond with an 8-2 run to pull within 20-19. Kills from Spohr and Borik helped give WU a 22-19 lead and after Purichia had two kills sandwiched around a kill from Borik to push Spalding within 23-21. The Gorloks would finally close out the set with back-to-back kills from Borik and Spohr to seal the 25-23 win and take a 2-1 edge in the match. Borik and Spohr each had six kills in the set as the Gorloks had 19 kills and just five errors for a .292 attack percentage. Spalding hit .250 with 13 kills and three attack errors.

Set 4: The Gorloks dominated the fourth set as the teams opened the set with ties at 1-all and 2-all and after those ties, Webster used a 4-0 run to take a 6-2 lead. Spalding would then score four of the next five points to cut WU's lead to 7-6 and following that run, the Gorloks put the match out of reach as they used a 14-4 run to push out to a 21-10 advantage. The Golden Eagles score three of the next five points to drop WU's lead to 23-13. Spohr and junior middle hitter Kylie Burke (Belleville, Ill./Belleville West) ended the match with two consecutive kills to seal the 25-13 set win.