The UMSL volleyball team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed and will take on No. 4 seed Rockhurst on Thursday in a rematch of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament semifinal won by the Hawks in three sets last Friday. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Volleyball
The second-seeded University of Missouri–St. Louis volleyball team pulled out a five-set victory over No. 7 seed Illinois Springfield in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament Thursday but fell in three sets a day later in the semifinals against No. 3 seed Rockhurst to end their run at Eastside Centre in East Peoria, Illinois. The 25-13, 25-21, 25-22 loss to the Hawks snapped the Tritons’ 11-match winning streak against GLVC opponents. UMSL hit only .250 in the contest with 42 kills against 12 errors in 120 swings. Three-time GLVC Player of the Year Charlotte Richards had a team-high 17 kills to lead UMSL while Lexie Rang had nine kills and Hailey Flowers finished with six kills. Caitlin Bishop had 37 assists, and Kylie Adams had a match-high 20 digs. The Tritons (21-6) won’t have to wait long to try to avenge the loss as they drew the No. 5 seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament’s Midwest Regional and will take on No. 4 seed Rockhurst on Thursday in Quincy, Illinois. UMSL beat Rockhurst in straight sets on Sept. 30. Quincy is the top seed in the Midwest Regional.
Men’s Basketball
The Tritons and their rebuilt roster got off to a strong start, knocking off No. 20 Walsh 70-53 on Friday and topping Tiffin 67-54 on Saturday in the Great Lakes Valley Conference/Great Midwest Athletic Conference Crossover in North Canton, Ohio. Newcomers Bowen Sandquist and Victor Nwagbaraocha combined for 37 points in the season-opening win against Walsh, and Sandquist hit six 3-pointers in a game UMSL led wire-to-wire. Redshirt junior guard Isaiah Fuller and newcomer Dylan West had 16 and 15 points, respectively, against Tiffin. Coach Bob Sundvold‘s team held both foes below 40 percent shooting. The Tritons play East/West University in their home opener Thursday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center.
Women’s Basketball
UMSL had a rough start to the new season, losing to top-ranked Grand Valley State 81-55 in its opening game Friday and falling to Davenport 62-55 on Saturday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Freshman Amaya Blake scored a team-high 17 points in 20 minutes in the loss to Grand Valley State, and sophomore Jalysa Stokes paced the team with 15 points against Davenport. The Tritons held Davenport to 41.2 percent shooting after Grand Valley State finished a sizzling 60 percent from the field on Friday. UMSL will hit the road for the first time this season when it takes on Trevecca Nazarene on Saturday afternoon in Nashville, Tennessee.
