UMSL honored senior volleyball players (from left) Lexie Rang, Mya Elliott, Kylie Adams, Karli Dean, Delaney Humm, Raina Forstrom and Hailey Flowers before their final home match on Saturday at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. The third-ranked Tritons topped No. 20 Quincy to improve to 26-0. (Photo courtesy of UMSL Athletics)
Volleyball
The third-ranked University of Missouri–St. Louis volleyball team improved to 26-0 and locked up a share of the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season championship after sweeping Illinois Springfield and No. 20 Quincy on Friday and Saturday in its final home matches at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Sophomore setter Caitlin Bishop continued to direct a multi-pronged attack that defenses have been unable to slow down all season. She averaged 42.5 assists last week while spreading the ball around to Mya Elliott, Delaney Humm and Lexie Rang, among others. Elliott and Humm each had 13 kills against Illinois Springfield in a 25-18, 25-23, 25-15 win on Friday. Humm also had 13 kills and Rang added 12 in Saturday’s 25-16, 25-17, 25-23 victory over the Hawks – the Tritons’ fourth win over a ranked opponent this season. Kylie Adams averaged a team-best 14 digs in the two matches. Coach Ryan Young’s squad will wrap up the regular season with road matches at Drury on Friday and Southwest Baptist on Saturday. UMSL (26-0, 11-0 GLVC) is assured of the No. 1 seed when the GLVC Tournament tips off on Nov. 17 in Williamsville, Illinois.
Men’s Cross Country
The Tritons finished 16th at the NCAA Midwest Regional with a score of 449 points in the 10-kilometer race run Saturday at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Indiana. Senior Benjamin VandenBrink was the team’s top finisher with a time of 31 minutes, 11.94 seconds. He will now wait to see if his time is good enough to receive an at-large berth to the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18 at Missouri Southern. Senior Jacob Warner finished 35th in a field of 216 runners with a time of 31:52.3. Wayne State’s Ransom Allen was the individual winner with a time of 30:38.0, and Grand Valley State won the team championship with a score of 48 points.
Women’s Cross Country
UMSL placed 25th in the NCAA Midwest Regional at Angel Mounds in Evansville, Indiana. The Tritons finished with 714 points. Junior Kayley Heeter was UMSL’s top finisher in the 6-kilometer race, clocking a time of 22 minutes, 44.33 seconds to place 102nd. Lily Wagemann was 13 places behind with time of 23:00.79. Hillsdale’s Liz Wamsley won the individual title with a time of 20:04.50, and Grand Valley State won the team title with a score of 28 points.
Women’s Soccer
The fifth-seeded Tritons lost 1-0 against No. 4 seed Lewis in the quarterfinals of the GLVC Tournament on Sunday in Romeoville, Illinois. UMSL outshot Lewis 18-9, but the Flyers got the lone goal from Breanna Culver in the 57th minute and made it hold up with goalkeeper Bekah Nielsen making seven saves. Goalkeeper Mary Kate Neal made five saves for the Tritons. UMSL finished its season with a record of 8-6-3 including 7-4-1 in the GLVC.
Men’s Basketball
UMSL split two games in the season-opening Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic, falling to Cedarville 75-70 on Saturday before upsetting No. 16 Bentley 76-73 on Sunday in Lakeland, Florida. The Tritons are replacing the top four scorers from last year’s team, which won the regional title and fell to eventual national champion Nova Southeastern in the Elite Eight. The rebuilt roster got off to a slow start against Cedarville and fell behind 40-27 in the first half, but UMSL came on strong after intermission and pulled as close as 56-52 with just over six minutes remaining. Sophomore guard Matt Enright led three players in double figures with 22 points. The Tritons bounced back with a strong defensive effort against Bentley, holding the Falcons to 42.1% shooting, including 33% in the first half. Troy Glover II scored 20 points and 14 rebounds off the bench to lead four Tritons in double figures. Emanuel Prospere II had 18 points. UMSL (1-1) is idle until playing Winona State on Nov. 16 in Winona, Minnesota.
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
The Tritons swimming teams split dual meets against Truman State on Saturday in Kirksville, Missouri. The men’s team won 10 of 14 events while beating the Bulldogs 151.5-74.5. Freshman Carson Ring and senior Conley Savage each had two first-place individual finishes with Ring winning both the 1,000-yard freestyle and the 500 freestyle and Savage touching the wall first in both the 200 butterfly and the 100 butterfly. Savage also joined Guillem Masjuan Roca, Hendrik Bechtel and David Reynolds in winning the 400 medley relay and teamed with Masjuan Roca, Reynolds and Elvin Sabanadzovic in the winning 400 freestyle relay. Masjuan Rocas also won the 200 breaststroke, Bechtel claimed the top spot in the 200 individual medley, Dylan Bonnett won the 100 breaststroke and junior Mason Stimson tied Truman’s Alex Burkhardt in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1 minute, 58.85 seconds. The women fell to the Bulldogs 121-102 but had five event winners. Kelsey Roth won the 1,000 freestyle, Zara Konstapel took first in the 200 breaststroke, Justice Beard won the 500 freestyle, Ella Lantz touched first in the 200 backstroke, and Lantz, Konstapel, Audrey Lantz and Madison Bottorff teamed up to win the 400 medley relay with a time of 4:03.25. UMSL will return to the pool Nov. 16 when it competes in IUPUI’s House of Champions meet in Indianapolis. The three-day meet will run through Nov. 18.
