FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State collected a split on the first day of the 2015 season, winning their first match on Friday (Sept. 4) before falling in the second. The Tigers defeated Cedarville (Ohio) by a count of 3-1 before falling to Michigan Tech 3-0. The Tigers will play the final two matches of their four-match weekend on Saturday.
Fort Hays State 3, Cedarville (Ohio) 1
The Tigers had a solid .298 hitting percentage in their first match of the day. FHSU won the opening set 25-18 before dropping the second 25-21, but went on to take the final two by scores of 25-20 and 25-22. FHSU hit above .300 in each of the three sets they won.
Tied 5-5 in the first set, FHSU went on a 5-0 run to gain breathing room and the Yellow Jackets never recovered. FHSU led by as many as nine in the set before winning by seven. The Tigers hit a scorching .419 in the first set as a team with 15 kills and just two errors.
The Tiger hitting percentage cooled to just .118 in the second set, while Cedarville hit .176 to tie up the match. FHSU held a four-point lead, but gave up an 8-0 run to fall down by four and could not catch Cedarville in the second frame.
The Tigers crafted a 9-2 run in the third set to gain a six-point lead at 18-12. The lead grew to eight before the Tigers closed out the third by five points. FHSU held off a pair of late Cedarville rallies in the fourth set to take the match. Up 23-22, FHSU secured the final two points of the match with an attacking error by Cedarville and a kill by Mallory Flagor.
Rebekah Spainhour had a monster match, putting down 12 kills with no errors on 18 attempts to hit .667. Crystal Whittenled the Tigers with 15 kills, despite hitting just .162. Flagor matched Spainhour in kills with 12. Azlyn Cassaday recorded nine kills in her first official collegiate match, hitting .400. Flagor (19 digs) and Whitten (13 digs) each recorded double-doubles, while Cassaday was just a kill short of the same feat by adding 12 digs. Setter Hannah Wagy produced 41 assists in the match.
Michigan Tech 3, Fort Hays State 0
Hitting errors proved to be the undoing of the Tigers in their second match of the day. FHSU hit just .042 as a team in a three-set loss to Michigan Tech with just 25 kills to 22 errors.
Fort Hays State held an early four-point lead in the first set before a rash of errors brought MTU back into a tie at 11-11. Three sraight kills by MTU and another FHSU error put the Tigers behind by four and they never recovered.
Michigan Tech gained an early five-point lead in the second and eventually widened its lead to 11 to win 25-14. The Tigers fell down big in the third set trailing 21-7 at one point before taking 11 of the final 15 points, but it was too late as MTU won the match in staright sets.
Crystal Whitten led the Tigers with 11 kills, but had eight errors to hit just .103. Mallory Flagor had seven kills, but also six errors. Hannah Wagy produced only six assists and Whitten led the Tigers in digs with just five. The Tigers struggled defensively, recording just 22 digs as a team.
The Tigers close out their first weekend of the season with matches against Upper Iowa and tournament host Northern Michigan on Saturday.