UMSL Falls in Final Match

Early Leads Escape UMSL in Loss

St. Louis, Mo. – In the final match of the season, the UMSL volleyball team saw some early leads disappear and lost 3-1 (30-26, 31-29, 26-30, 30-18) to visiting Missouri Baptist on Wednesday evening.

UMSL got a quick lead in the first game with an 8-3 lead and held that five-point advantage with an 18-13 lead before Missouri Baptist charged back. MBU got nine straight points to take the lead at 22-18. UMSL got as close as two points but could not regain the lead and lost the opening game 30-26. UMSL again saw a lead evaporate in the second game. After some early battles, the Riverwomen broke a 5-5 tie with a 6-1 run and pushed that lead out to seven points at 22-15. Missouri Baptist then used a 6-1 run to get back in the game. The Spartans would tie it at 26-26 but UMSL came back to take a 29-28 lead before MBU closed out the game with three straight points to win 31-29. The third game was tight early was knotted at 9-9 before Missouri Baptist went on a 4-0 run to lead 13-9. UMSL would later use a 5-0 run to take a 17-15 lead and pushed that out to a five-point advantage at 22-17 before closing it out for the 30-26 win. UMSL trailed by two points early in the fourth game at 8-6 when MBU went on a 4-0 run to lead 12-6. The Spartans would use another big run to lead by ten points at 18-8 and cruised from there for the 30-18 win.

UMSL had four players with double digit kills, led by Claudia Medina (Las Cruces, N.M./Las Cruces) with 13 kills. Heather Nichols (Black Earth, Wis./Edgewood) and Sarah Eisnaugle (Newark, Ill./Newark) each had 12 kills and Chelsea Baumstark (Hermann, Mo./Hermann) added 11 kills. Lisa Brinker (Washington, Mo./Washington) led UMSL with 51 assists and Baumstark added five total blocks.

UMSL ends its season with a 6-22 record on the year, and finished the GLVC schedule with a 6-10 record in conference games.