FHSU Sports Information Department
KEARNEY, Neb. – Fort Hays State fell in the opening round of the MIAA Tournament on Tuesday night (Nov. 17) by a score of 3-1 to Nebraska-Kearney. FHSU evened the match with a 26-24 second-set win, but the 10th-ranked Lopers were too much on their home floor.
UNK ran away with the first set, but in the second set, FHSU trailed 24-22 before rallying with four straight points to even the match with a 26-24 set victory. The third set went much like the first with UNK cruising to an easy win as it regained control of the match. FHSU remained close in the fourth set all the way to a 19-19 tie before UNK reeled off six of the final seven points in the set. The Lopers outhit the Tigers .272 to .135 in the match.
Mallory Flagor led FHSU with 14 kills, hitting .216 in her final collegiate match. She added 10 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. Crystal Whitten posted her 20th double-double of the year with 13 kills and 15 digs. Ari Jacobsen led the Tigers in digs with 17 and Hannah Wagy had 45 assists. Rebekah Spainhour, Megan Anderson, and Flagor all had a team-high five blocks.
Kendall Schroer led UNK in kills with 16, followed by Kaitlynn Thomas with 13 and Tara Ziegelbein with 11.
Fort Hays State finished its season at 21-13 overall. The Tigers went 10-8 in MIAA play, setting a new program-best mark for wins in MIAA play for a season. FHSU finished sixth in the conference standings.
Nebraska-Kearney, the No. 3 seed in the MIAA Tournament moves on to the semifinals. The remainder of the tournament will be held at Central Oklahoma, the No. 1 seed in the tournament.