Volleyball ends season with senior-day victory

BY CAYDEN SANDERS
PHOTOS BY TIM SCHOEPLFIN, EMMA PLANK & CAYDEN SANDERS

Entering their final regular season contest, the Fort Hays State volleyball team was looking to get a win on Saturday after a loss to in-state rival Pitt State the night before.

The loss to the Gorillas eliminated the Tigers from playing in the MIAA tournament; however, Saturday was senior night and offered the team to play one last game for their seniors. The Tigers did just that, winning the match 3-1. 

“The season has seen its ups and downs, but I am glad we came out here and got the win even though our season is over,” senior outside hitter Mykah Eshbaugh said.

Fort Hays State (11-17) started the match with an honorary serve to one of the Tiger seniors, Elysia Glowacz who was unable to play due to a season-ending injury.  

In the match, the Tigers had the first set in their hands as Fort Hays built a 7-0 lead on the Lions (13-16) with the help of Morgan Christiansen earning four of the seven points before the Lions took a time out. 

After that timeout, the Tigers allowed the Lions back into the set with the Lions pulling within two, 12-10; however, FHSU pushed back and won the first set 25-19. The set was controlled by Christiansen, as she had five kills and one block assist.

“We had a great game today, we started hot, and we happened to win,” Christiansen said. “Even though my time here with Fort Hays is over, I have loved my time here, and I loved the team I played with.”

For the second set of the match, the Lions were the team to start hot as MSSU collected an 8-2 lead. After a Fort Hays State timeout, the Tigers rattled off 13 points to climb out of their early hole. After the teams were tied at 18 apiece, the Tigers took over as the Tigers only allowed the Lions to score once and finished the second set with a final of 25-19.

The Lions won the third set, but it was hard fought by the Tigers as Fort Hays did not let the Lions have more than a four-point lead the entire group. Senior Jaden Daffer said that even though the Lions took set three, FHSU still found a way through the adversity. 

“Even though I am the libero of the team, I have never felt like I have had to lead this team,” Daffer said. “We were always on the same page, even though we lost the third set. We have always been on the same page since the start of the season.” 

In the fourth seth, FHSU led 17-13 and closed out the match on a 8-4 run to win 25-17. Earning a win on senior night put the finishing touches on a season that had its ups and downs for the Tigers. 

“We have seen our fair issues this season, not on the court but off the court as well,” Head Coach Jessica Wood-Atkins said. “I think we grew closer as a family with how this season went and how close we all are now, and I would never trade my team away because we were here for each other.”

“I feel we are right there; we need to close out games. With how some of our matches went this year, we should have had a couple of more wins on the record than we did.” 

Seniors Daffer, Eshbaugh, Christiansen, Glowacz, Emily Ellis and Jaida Felix played their final match as Tigers and played well. Eshbaugh had 12 kills with three assisted blocks. Ellis had 14 kills, with seven assisted blocks. Christiansen had the second most attacks by any player for the Tigers, as she had 32, with 14 kills and five assisted blocks. For Felix, she helped lead the Tiger’s charge with 31 assists on the night and Daffer had 19 digs in the contest. 

“I love how I came to the program; everyone told me how this program is like a family, not only that but the community,” Felix said. “I didn’t start realizing that Fort Hays was a family until midway through the season and then having a senior night.”

With the end of the season for the Tigers, the start of the next season is underway. One thing is for sure the seniors of this year’s class trust in the process that Coach Wood-Atkins is bringing to Fort Hays.

“It’s a huge compliment to hear that all of my seniors believe in this program and know it is in good hands as we are on the up-and-coming,” Wood-Atkins said.


Photos from FHSU vs Pitt State on Friday


Photos from FHSU vs MSSU on Saturday

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