ESU volleyball beats Hays, nears NCAA playoff berth
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Thursday, October 19, 2006
The Emporia State volleyball team took a step closer to an NCAA tournament berth Wednesday night, defeating Fort Hays State 30-22, 30-22, 30-17 in Hays.
The Hornets recovered from a slow start, trailing 5-0 and later 11-4 in Game One, before bouncing back. After falling behind 14-8, ESU strung together eight straight points, with Leah Griswold contributing three kills during the stretch.
Fort Hays kept it close in Game Two as well, tying it at 13 before ESU pulled away. The Hornets went on an 8-1 spurt, with seven of those points coming off of Tiger errors.
ESU fell in a 5-3 hole in the third game before taking control, scoring nine of the next 11 points to take a commanding lead.
Griswold paced the Hornets with 15 kills. Seven of those came in the first game.
Arica Shepherd added 14 kills, ending a three-game streak of recording at least 20 kills.
The victory puts the Hornets right at .500 with a 14-14 record. To make the NCAA tourney, a team must be above .500 and among the top five teams in the regional rankings after the three conference tournament winners are given automatic berths. Currently, the Hornets sit at seventh in the regional rankings and need two more victories to guarantee themselves a .500 record.
ESU will be home for the final regular-season match at 1 p.m. Saturday, playing host to Pittsburg State on Senior Night. Griswold, Mandy Chutskoff, Courtney Aguilar and Jennifer Remmereid will be honored before their final home match.