The Emporia State volleyball team dropped its third straight match on Saturday, losing to No. 11 Central Missouri 30-22, 30-22, 26-30, 30-24 in Warrensburg, Mo.
A Hannah Carter kill gave ESU an 11-9 lead in Game One, but the Hornets allowed five straight points and never recovered after that.
In Game Two, Central Missouri never trailed after grabbing the first five points.
ESU rallied from a 15-10 deficit to avoid the sweep in Game Three. The Hornets took seven of the next eight points, helped along by four straight Jennie attack errors during that stretch.
Central gained control of the fourth game after taking a timeout when trailing 18-17. The Jennies put together four consecutive points after the break, gaining a lead they would never surrender.
Jennifer Remmereid and Mandy Chutskoff paced ESU, contributing 12 kills each. Arica Shepard and Mary Walczuk added 11 kills apiece in the loss.
Meanwhile, Griswold led the Hornet defense with 31 digs. She was also credited with nine kills.
Central was the third-consecutive ranked team faced by ESU. That string will extend to four on Tuesday, as the Hornets play host to No. 25 Missouri Southern at White Auditorium.
ESU dropped to 10-12 overall, 4-5 in the MIAA.
Rossbach leads
ESU cross country
at Border States Invite
ESU junior Jonel Rossbach had an impressive performance Saturday at the Border War Cross Country Championships in Edwardsville, Ill., finishing seventh out of 294 competitors on the women’s side.
Rossbach had a time of 18:14.17 on the five-kilometer course.
“She had perhaps her best cross country race as a Hornet,” ESU coach Dave Harris said. “She has her sights set on some MIAA runners who finished in front of her.”
In the men’s race, Skyler Delmott was the best ESU finisher, taking 32nd with a time of 26:13.68 on the 8K course.
Michael Stephens took 74th for the Hornets and was followed closely by a pack of three Hornets. Marcus Summers (86th), Brock Ternes (87th) and Shea Camien (91st) all finished within three seconds of each other.
“Our men accomplished some team running in the 3-4-5 spots,” Harris said, “and gained some confidence from the strategy.”
The trio helped the ESU men take 12th as a team out of the 30 schools participating.
ESU’s women placed 17th out of 29 squads. Krysta Fennewald provided ESU’s second-fastest showing, taking 56th with a time of 19:22.76.
The Hornets’ next action will be Oct. 21 at the MIAA Championships in Bolivar, Mo.
Harris said that meet would provide a test for his men’s squad, which is composed only of freshmen and sophomores.
“We have a challenge with this young team in two weeks,” Harris said. “The MIAA looks as tough as I have ever seen it.”