Bing Xu thought he had found the cure for his team’s inconsistency.
Instead, the Emporia State coach saw a relapse of some 2006 problems Tuesday night, as the Hornets fell 21-30, 30-22, 30-13, 30-24 to No. 7 Central Missouri at White Auditorium.
“From last year, we talked a lot about confidence and toughness,” Xu said. “We still showed our weakness tonight.”
The loss snapped ESU’s string of six consecutive victories in home openers.
After calling last year’s team a “roller coaster,” Xu had been pleased with his squad through the first two tournaments this year with its ability to stay even-keeled.
The team’s confidence was lost for a stretch on Tuesday, as ESU dominated Game One before dropping the final three games to UCM.
The Hornets allowed a 10-2 run in the second game and a 9-0 spurt in the third game as the Jennies built commanding leads.
“We have a problem when we start losing our momentum,” Xu said. “We didn’t pass well, we didn’t serve well and we started to mentally back off our game.”
It all came after an impressive start for ESU.
The Hornets jumped out to a 5-1 lead — forcing a quick UCM timeout — before building the advantage to 14-5 on a kill by Ting Liu.
“Everything and everybody was on,” ESU junior Megan Koster said. “We could hit it down, and our passes were on so that we could get the hits.”
UCM rallied to close to within 20-16 before ESU received some help off the bench from Brittney Miller.
Xu put the freshman in for her first action, and she responded by slamming down a spike then registering a block on the next point, pushing ESU’s lead back to 22-16.
“I like her character,” Xu said, “because whatever she does on the court, she does with confidence.”
Miller slammed another hard kill down for the 29th point, and a UCM service error gave the Hornets the first game, 30-21.
“We need to learn to play every game that way — at that pace and that speed,” Miller said, “and we’ll be unstoppable.”
Xu was pleasantly surprised with his team’s early play.
The coach had expected his players to struggle — just like they had in years past — in the home opener in front of friends, family and fans.
“Today I didn’t see anything,” Xu said. “We just came here on fire. That’s what we want to see every single game, every single match.”
ESU rallied in the fourth game to tie it at 21, but UCM (7-1, 1-0 MIAA) scored six of the next seven points to rebuild a 27-22 lead before taking the game, 30-24.
Koster and Brianne Boner led the Hornets with 14 kills apiece. Arica Shepard added 13, while Amy Byfield had 23 digs.
ESU (6-3, 0-1 MIAA) will travel to play in the West Florida Invitational this weekend.
Tuesday at Emporia
Central Missouri 21 30 30 30
Emporia State 30 22 13 24
Kills — Central Missouri 58 (Amber Yoder 17); ESU 56 (Megan Koster, Brianne Boner 14). Digs — Central Missouri 88 (Audrey Jensen 36); ESU 98 (Amy Byfield 23). Assists — Central Missouri 49 (Caitlin Pankratz 47); ESU 52 (Ting Liu 49).
Att — 415. Time — 1:49.
Records — UCM 8-1, 1-0 MIAA; ESU 6-3, 0-1 MIAA.