By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION
DENTON, Texas – The Fort Hays State volleyball team wrapped up its non-conference schedule Saturday (Sept. 3) with one win and one loss at the Denton Volleyfest. The Tigers made quick work of Ouachita Baptist in the first match of the day before falling in four sets against Northwestern Oklahoma State in the weekend finale.
Mykah Eshbaugh recorded 24 kills on the day, including 15 against NWOSU, while Jaden Daffer led the way with 49 digs across the seven sets. Morgan Christiansen compiled six blocks, including four solo blocks, and Jaida Felix paced the team with 43 assists.
The Tigers will open conference play next weekend on the road when they face off with Washburn on Friday (Sept. 9, 6 p.m.) and Emporia State on Saturday (Sept. 10, 3 p.m.).
Fort Hays State 3, Ouachita Baptist 0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-22)
Fort Hays State played suffocating defense throughout the opening match of the day, limiting Ouachita Baptist to a .050 attack percentage thanks to 10 blocks and 64 digs. The teams traded the lead several times early in the first set before FHSU rattled off four-consecutive points to take the lead for good. Mykah Eshbaugh opened the run with a kill before Riley Tinder added back-to-back kills.
The black and gold Tigers led by as many as five midway through the second set before Ouachita Baptist scored seven in a row to go up 19-17. Fort Hays State later scored five in a row to regain the lead at 23-21. Kills from Emily Ellis and Gracie Rains opened the rally before a block from Caiya Stucky put the Tigers in front. Tinder followed with a service ace to cap off the run and Jaida Felix added a service ace just a few rallies later to give the Tigers a 26-24 win.
Fort Hays State put things away in the third set with a .184 attack percentage and 13 kills. The Tigers turned a 14-14 tie into a big lead with a 9-3 run before securing the match with a 25-22 win.
Rains tallied 12 kills to lead the team, with Eshbaugh adding nine kills and two blocks and Tinder contributing eight kills and eight digs. Felix totaled 18 assists and eight digs, while Elysia Glowacz racked up 17 assists and five digs. Jaden Daffer led the team with 21 digs and Brooke Hyland totaled 14 digs.
Northwestern Oklahoma State 3, Fort Hays State 1 (21-25, 15-25, 25-17, 20-25)
Fort Hays State used a dominant third set to extend the match against Northwestern Oklahoma State, but efficient offense from the Rangers helped them take the weekend finale in four sets. The teams traded the lead several times in the opening set before NWOSU pulled away, winning 25-21. The Rangers took care of business early in the second set, winning 25-15, before the Tiger offense came alive in a 25-17 third-set win.
Fort Hays State posted an attack percentage of .455 in the third stanza, totaling 19 kills and just four errors on 33 swings. Gracie Rains totaled five kills in that set, while Morgan Christiansen, Mykah Eshbaugh and Claire Olson all had four kills. The Rangers bounced back in the fourth set, however, pulling away late to turn a 19-19 tie into a 25-20 win.
Eshbaugh led the Tigers with 15 kills while adding two aces, one block and 10 digs for her first career double-double. Christiansen added eight kills, four blocks and five digs. Libero Jaden Daffer totaled 28 digs, while Jaida Felix (25 assists) and Elysia Glowacz (21 digs) combined for 46 of the 49 assists.
Friday
The Fort Hays State volleyball team turned in a 1-1 record on Friday’s day one of the Denton Volleyfest (Sept. 2). The Tigers opened the weekend with a 3-0 sweep of East Central before falling in four tough sets against tournament-host Texas Woman’s.
Riley Tinder recorded 25 kills on the day, with Jaden Daffer pacing the squad with 30 digs across the two matches. Jaida Felix dished out 42 assists across the seven sets, averaging right at 6.0 assists per frame on the day.
Fort Hays State 3, East Central 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-19)
Fort Hays State took care of business in the opener, easily dispatching of East Central in straight sets. The black and gold Tigers recorded an attack percentage of .198 while holding the orange and black Tigers to a swing rate of .061. FHSU averaged more than three aces and three blocks in each set, compiling 11 aces and 10 blocks in the contest.
Multiple big FHSU runs helped the Tigers start to pull away in the opening set, leading by as many as eight, 19-11. But East Central battled back with six points in a row to close within two, 20-18, before trimming the deficit to just one at 23-22. Fort Hays State responded by scoring the next two points to secure the win thanks to a kill from Gracie Rains and a Jaida Felix service ace.
The teams battled back-and-forth for the duration of the second set, with neither team leading by more than three until a furious FHSU rally late in the frame. Trailing 19-17, the Tigers scored seven consecutive points go up by five. Mykah Eshbaugh opened the run with a kill before Riley Tinder tied things up with a solo block. Jaden Daffer followed with a service ace before another Tinder block doubled the lead. Daffer later added another service ace before an Eshbaugh block helped the Tigers reach set point. Emily Ellis finished things off with a kill two rallies later, giving FHSU a 2-0 lead.
Both sides went on established runs in the third set, with Fort Hays State scoring three or more in a row four times and East Central doing so twice. FHSU did much of its damage from behind the service line, with the Tigers combining for five service aces in the frame. ECU scored four in a row to tie the score at nine before FHSU went in front for good with a run of five-straight points. Another Felix service ace put a bow on the sweep, capping off a 25-19 FHSU win.
Felix was credited with seven service aces in the win, tied for the second-most by a Tiger during the rally scoring era (2001-present). She also led the team with 15 assists and added six digs. Tinder paced the team with 12 kills and added seven digs, while Daffer totaled eight digs and four service aces.
Texas Woman’s 3, Fort Hays State 1 (19-25, 23-25, 25-21, 24-26)
The Tigers shook off a slow start to nearly force a deciding fifth set against Texas Woman’s University, but the Pioneers rallied late to win in four sets. Fort Hays State kept things close in the first set, but a 7-1 run late in the stanza helped the home team come out on top 25-19.
Fort Hays State made a furious comeback in the second set, trailing 19-11 before coming back to tie things up at 20. Emily Ellis opened the run with a kill before teaming up with Caiya Stucky for a block. Stucky buried a kill two serves later before adding another block, this time beside Morgan Christiansen. Riley Tinder chipped in two kills later in the rally, while Stucky added one more and Emily Ellis dropped in a service ace. The score remained tied as late as 22-22 before the Pioneers rebounded to go up 2-0, 25-23.
The teams traded punches again in the third set, with Fort Hays State getting in the final blow with six-straight points to seal the 25-21 victory. TWU led the majority of the way, but three Tiger kills, one service ace and a pair of Pioneer miscues helped the Tigers grab the win.
Fort Hays State saved its best offense for last, with the Tigers combining for an attack percentage of .333 in the final set thanks to 16 kills and just two errors. The defense, meanwhile, held TWU to a swing rate of .233 in the final frame, including six errors.
The Tigers led the way in blocks, totaling 10 compared to just eight for TWU.