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get to the game? Don't worry, we've got ya covered.
Tigers shut out by No. 8 Washburn
9/13/2007
By WILL MANLY
Hays Daily News
At one point in the third ugly game of the ugly match, senior hitter Kellyn Thaut dove to the floor, hitting the deck to reach the ball and knock it back skyward. But the referee whistled the play dead: The ball hit the floor while Thaut bumped it up.
Already trailing 13-25 and down two games to none, the Tigers did not relent, setting the ball up and spiking it down before they were willing to give up on the play.
The Fort Hays State University volleyball team showed grit and no-give-up Wednesday night at Gross Memorial Coliseum, when they opened Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play against Washburn. Unfortunately for the Tigers, grit wasn't accompanied by execution, and execution was a must against Washburn, who came into the match 13-1, on an eight-game winning streak and ranked No. 8 in the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Washburn won the match in three quick games.
"We're so much better than we showed tonight. They're a good team and it's a tough loss. But at the same time we're going to play them again, we're going to be a lot more prepared. We were prepared this time, we just didn't execute," said junior hitter Leanna Roberts. "We lost the game. It wasn't them playing well, it was our errors."
On 128 total attacks, Fort Hays had 28 attack errors and just 34 kills. Roberts was the exception: She had 12 kills and two errors on 22 attacks.
Fort Hays fell to 8-6 (0-1 MIAA) and Washburn improved to 14-1 (1-0 MIAA).
Washburn had little trouble with Fort Hays, dispatching the Tigers 30-19, 30-25, 30-16. But Fort Hays had sparkle at a few moments. Early in game 2 the Tigers mounted an 11-3 run and took a 15-9 lead. But Washburn answered, scoring 12 of the next 15 points and stealing the lead back en route to a 30-25 win.
"It's a game of momentum. Of course it's always frustrating but the thing is, you know that a team is gonna run against you," Smith said. "Every team, no matter who you go against, they're gonna get some momentum and make a run against you. Now, there's runs of two or three points. It's those runs of seven, eight points that you can't have."
In game 3, Fort Hays led 11-9 before Washburn surged with six straight points, prompting Smith to call timeout to break Washburn's streak. The break did the Tigers little good; Washburn scored seven more after the timeout to take a commanding 22-11 lead.
Washburn did its most severe damage when Fort Hays hitters Thaut and Roberts were rotated into the back row and the Tigers' offense was diminished.
"That's when they really ran their points against us," Smith said. "We need some of our secondary players, some of our support cast for Kellyn and Leanna to really step up and be agressive on offense."
Senior Neeley Remmers was the only other Tiger with more than two kills; she had five.
Game notes
* Members of the Russell High School volleyball team attended the game.
* Thaut had 12 kills for the Tigers.
* Washburn was led on offense by Mandi Cox, who had 13 kills, and Monica Miesner and Tessa Jones, who each had nine. As a team, Washburn had 47 kills and just 13 errors.
* The recorded attendance was 261.
* The teams will meet again Oct. 18 in Topeka.
Reporter Will Manly can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 139 or by e-mail at
will@thestironline.com
| Scoreboard | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Date | Opponent | Score |
| BB | 5/11 | Central Missouri | L 4-2 |
| BB | 5/10 | Missouri Western | W 4-3 |
| BB | 5/09 | Emporia State | L 6-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | W 17-5 |
| BB | 5/04 | Pittsburg State | L 4-3 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 15-7 |
| BB | 5/03 | Pittsburg State | L 5-4 |
| SB | 5/02 | Central Missouri | L 3-1 |
| SB | 5/02 | Missouri Western | W 3-2 |
| SB | 5/01 | Pittsburg State | W 6-0 |
