FHSU Sports Information Department
Fort Hays State Volleyball plays its first home match of the season on Tuesday night (Sept. 22) at 7 pm. The Tigers play host to 15th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney at Gross Memorial Coliseum, looking to end an 18-match losing streak to the Lopers. Fort Hays State has not defeated Nebraska-Kearney since 2003. The Tigers enter the match at 8-4 overall.
The Tigers enter the match red hot, winning seven of their last eight matches. The only blemish in that string was a 3-2 loss to Cameron University, a team that is still perfect this year at 9-0. Fort Hays State is coming off a weekend sweep of four matches at Johnson & Wales University, where they defeated the host school twice along with Benedictine-Mesa and York College (Neb.). The Tiger offense scorched the opposition, hitting over .400 in three of the four contests. The Tigers had not hit over .400 in a match since the 2012 season. FHSU hit .523 against York College, the first time it had hit over .500 in a match since 2003.
By hitting .500 over the four matches last weekend, rightside hitter Mallory Flagor was named MIAA Hitter of the Week. She was very efficient, recording 50 kills and only six errors on 88 attempts while averaging 4.17 kills per set. She also chipped in 1.33 blocks per set. She hit .692 in the win over York College by going errorless with nine kills on 13 attempts. She hit over .400 in all four matches and recorded six blocks in two of the four matches.
Crystal Whitten continues to lead the team in kills (155) and digs (152). She is averaging 3.52 kills and 3.45 digs per set. Rebekah Spainhour has been very efficient at middle hitter with a team-best .364 hitting percentage. She has 106 kills, while adding 25 blocks. Hannah Wagy is averaging 10.1 assists per set.
Nebraska-Kearney has won its last eight matches and enters Tuesday at 10-2 overall. FHSU gave UNK a scare in last year’s MIAA opener in Kearney. UNK won that match 3-2, then took the meeting in Hays later in the year by a count of 3-0.
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