UMSL Rally Falls Short in Fifth Game

St. Louis, Mo. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team used a strong charge to come from behind and force a fifth game after losing the first two, but came up short in falling 3-2 (30-25, 30-19, 28-30, 28-30, 15-12) to visiting Missouri Baptist on Wednesday night.

UMSL had the lead through the early part of the first game before Missouri Baptist came back and tied it at 15-15. The Spartans then broke an 18-18 tie and took a late lead that UMSL could not overcome as the Spartans took the opening game 30-25. UMSL again took the early lead in the second game, leading 5-1 before Missouri Baptist rallied back and tied the game at 6-6. The Spartans then took control of the game and pushed their lead out to as many as six points before going on for the 30-19 win and a two games to none lead.

At that point, UMSL bounced back strong to take the next two games. In the third game, UMSL fell behind 4-1 in the early going before coming back. UM-St. Louis would tie the game up at 8-8 after a service ace from Christy Trame, and took the lead on the next point with another ace from Trame for a 9-8 lead. The game went back and forth after that, with neither team leading by more than a point until the Spartans took a 22-20 lead. UMSL scored the next four points after that to regain the lead and went on for the 30-28 win in the third game. The fourth game saw both teams keep it close, as it was tied several times in the early going before UMSL rattled off three straight points to lead 14-11. Missouri Baptist would come back and tie the game and it stayed close the rest of the way. UMSL would gain control by breaking a 25-25 tie with two straight points to take the late advantage and held on for the 30-28 win and force a fifth game. UM-St. Louis jumped out quickly in the fifth game, leading 8-2 before the Spartans rallied back, eventually tying the score at 10-10 before going on for the 15-12 win in the game and took the match 3-2.

UMSL was led in the game by Christy Trame with 24 kills and just five errors for a hitting percentage of .514 for the match. Claudia Medina added 17 kills and a team best 18 digs, and Sarah Eisnaugle had 10 kills. UMSL recorded 13.5 total team blocks on the night, led by Shamika Williams with six block assists. Lisa Brinker had 60 assists and 15 digs on the night for UMSL as well.

UM-St. Louis falls to 4-6 on the season and will be on the road this weekend when they play at Central Missouri State on Friday, and then face Northwest Missouri State on Saturday.