Box score

HAYS, Kan. -- SBU volleyball took the first two sets before going on to record the 3-1 victory over Fort Hays State. The win snaps a seven-game slide, including four matches against nationally ranked opponents. Freshman Alex Smith recorded her 13th double-double of the season, with 15 kills and 14 digs. Ashley Jurgensmeyer added 15 kills, while senior Kelsey Stewart collected 11. Joanna Granzow tied the SBU season mark with 9 block assists.

The first set was a back-and-forth battle, as the Tigers took an early 3-0 lead, just to see SBU battle back to eventually get a three point advantage themselves. The Bearcats increased their lead to 15-10 after a pair of Fort Hays errors, but the Tigers would come back themselves to take a lead late, at 23-21. After an attack error by Fort Hays' Makayla McPhail, Bearcat Marcy Greenwade served up an ace to tie the set at 23-23. After trading service errors, a blocking error by Hays gave SBU the opportunity to take the set, which they did off a kill from Jurgensmeyer.

The second set saw SBU jump out to a huge 7-0 lead, with a pair of kills from Jurgensmeyer, plus three errors courtesy of Fort Hays. The Tigers would cut the deficit down to two points, after a block from Ellen Dreyer made it a 14-12 SBU lead, but that would be as close as they would get. Kills from Smith would take two of the final three plays, and the Bearcats closed out the second set, 25-20.

In what was the longest set of the season for the Bearcats, including 19 ties and eight lead changes, SBU fell, 32-30. With a narrow 25-24 SBU lead, both sides traded kills for nine straight plays. Fort Hays kept themselves in the match with a pair of kills from McPhail and Morgan Witzel, but SBU answered back with scores from Granzow and Jurgensmeyer. After an attack error by the Tigers gave SBU a 30-29 advantage, Fort Hays rallied for three straight points to take the set.

Fort Hays appeared to run out of gas after the marathon third set, and SBU coasted to a 25-9 win in the fourth to take the match. The 'Cats went on a 10-0 run in the middle of the set, highlighted by three block assists by Granzow, along with Smith and Kylie Heim.

With the win, SBU improves to 11-22 on the season (4-13 MIAA), and has a chance to improve on last season's 13 wins by winning out the final three matches of the season. The Bearcats wrap up their final road trip of the season next week, as they travel to nationally-ranked Emporia State on Monday, November 10, at 7 p.m.