Rockhurst Defeats Volleyball 3-0

Riverwomen Fall to Lady Hawks

ST. LOUIS, MO – The UMSL volleyball team dropped their fourth match in the last five, falling 3-0 (30-25, 30-17, 30-20) to Rockhurst on Saturday afternoon at the Mark Twain Building. The Riverwomen started the season off by winning eight of their first nine matches, but have dropped four of their last five and are currently 9-5 on the season.

UMSL got off to a slow start, falling behind 7-0 in the first game before clawing their way back. The Riverwomen slowly chipped away a the deficit, and eventually tied the score at 21-21. Tied at 22-22, Rockhurst then scored four of the next five points to take a 26-23 lead and closed out the first game 30-25. The second game was even early on before Rockhurst made a run. With the scored tied at 4-4, Rockhurst scored eight straight points, and then closed the game with five straight points to win 30-17. In the third game, UMSL again kept it close early, but leading 6-4, Rockhurst got four straight points, including three service aces from Jessica Shepler to take the lead for good. UMSL would fight back and closed the gap to just three points at 16-13, but Rockhurst would scored four of the last five points in the game for a 30-20 win.

Nikki Pagels (Fox River Grove, Ill./Cary Grove) led UMSL with 11 kills on the day. Melissa Frost (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) added five kills and four total blocks and Ashley Richmond (Milford, Ohio/Milford) had 22 assists. Jessica Shepler led Rockhurst with 19 kills, 12 digs and four total blocks.

UMSL will be home again next weekend when the Riverwomen host Northern Kentucky on Friday, September 27 at 7 pm, and then host Bellarmine on Saturday, September 28 at 1 pm.