The No. 23 Emporia State volleyball team split its first two matches at the Lady Blues Classic in Topeka on Friday, defeating Dallas Baptist 30-23, 33-35, 30-13, 30-18, before falling to No. 17 West Texas A&M 30-24, 28-30, 30-22, 30-27.
Megan Koster led the Hornets in the first match, posting 19 kills. Arica Shepard had 18 kills, while Mary Walczuk had 11 kills and a .733 attack percentage.
Brianne Boner added 11 kills, and setter Ting Liu had a season-high 64 assists.
Against West Texas A&M, ESU fell behind in the first game 16-4 before losing 30-24.
The Hornets used a late 5-1 run to take Game Two 30-28, but West Texas A&M took the final two games to end the match.
Shepard paced ESU with 16 kills, while Walczuk had 15.
Koster contributed a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs.
ESU (16-6) will play Oklahoma Panhandle State and Abilene Christian today at the Classic.
Lady Blues Classic
Friday at Topeka
Match One
Dallas Baptist 23 35 13 18
No. 23 Emporia State 30 33 30 30
Records — Dallas Baptist 7-10; ESU 16-5.
Match Two
No. 23 Emporia State 24 30 22 27
No. 17 West Texas A&M 30 28 30 30
Records — Emporia State 16-6; West Texas A&M 18-5.