By CAYDEN SANDERS
Tiger Media Network
The Fort Hays State University volleyball team continued its homestand against the ninth-best team in the nation, the University of Nebraska-Kearney. The Lopers took Tuesday night’s match at Gross Memorial Coliseum, 25-16, 25-9, 25-9.
“Kearney plays clean. They play well. They hit the ball hard. They are just a really good team,” said FHSU head coach Jessica Wood-Atkins. “Coming in, we respected that and we knew they were going to be tough. I didn’t look at the final scores. What I was looking for was the fire in my girls. They have all the potential in the world, but that is a deadly word right now unless you actually see it come to fruition.”
Taylor Hawkins led FHSU (7-11 overall, 1-8 MIAA) with seven kills. Emily Ellis and Gracie Rains both finished with five.
UNK (18-1, 8-1) finished the match with a .421 hitting percentage, led by Abby Rose with eight hills and Ashla Regier adding seven. The Lopers had five service aces compared to none by FHSU.
Caiya Stucky led the Tigers with 15 assists, while UNK was paced by 35 from Peyton Neff.
It was the eighth loss for the Tigers in the last nine matches.
Another story in the match was TMP alum Emilee Lane returning home to Hays to compete against the Tigers. Lane is a sophomore outside hitter for UNK. A number of youth volleyball players in the area came to watch Lane.
“I was super excited to play in front of girls in the local area. It was a huge honor to play in front of them and represent Hays,” Lane said
For Lane, Hays was the perfect town to grow up in, and said it made her better because of the players who came through and inspired her from TMP, HHS, and Fort Hays. But being on the court this time was special.
“I had a lot of people in the stands. I knew I would be nervous, but I did not know that I would feel like I came full circle from being the little girl in the stands to being a player on the court,” she said.
Now competing for Nebraska Kearney, Lane has solidified herself as a key piece to a top division two program in the Lopers. She finished with five kills on Tuesday.
The Tigers will try to get back on track at 6 p.m. Friday when they host Missouri Southern State University at GMC. FHSU hosts Central Missouri State University at 6 p.m. on Saturday.
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