Sophomore outside hitter Alayna Santel had a career-best 26 kills in Saturday’s victory at Truman State as the Tritons improved to 6-0 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. (Photo by Patrick Clark/Athlete’s Eye Photography)
Volleyball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis volleyball team continued its strong start to the Great Lakes Valley Conference season, winning road matches at Upper Iowa and Truman State over the weekend to improve to 6-0 in league play. The Tritons swept the Peacocks 25-22, 25-17, 25-21 on Friday in Fayette, Iowa. Maggie Johnson had a match-high 19 kills, and Alayna Santel added 11 as UMSL outhit Upper Iowa .273-.174. Caitlin Bishop had 40 assists in the win. The Tritons needed a fourth set to top the Bulldogs 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-20 on Saturday in Kirksville, Missouri. Santel led the attack with a career-high 26 kills while hitting .477. Johnson added 16 kills, and Hannah Copeland had 11 to go with seven blocks. Bishop finished with 62 assists, and Skylar Weaver had a match-high 22 digs. UMSL (13-4, 6-0 GLVC) will head to Hammond, Indiana, for next weekend’s Midwest Regional Volleyball Crossover. The Tritons will take on Hillsdale and Davenport on the opening day of the event on Friday at the Hammond Sportsplex.
Men’s Golf
The 22nd-ranked Tritons closed with the second-lowest round in school history at last week’s National Preview to finish in fifth place in the 17-team field at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nevada. UMSL posted a round of 274 during the final round to climb four spots on the leaderboard as they finished with a 54-hole total of 844. That was eight shots back of tournament winner Lynn. Dani Solavera made six birdies during a final-round 67 and finished in a tie for 11th with a three-round total of 209. Trigg Lindahl finished one shot back of Solavera in a tie for 15th. Logan Mayo placed 27th, Leo Baudry tied for 29th, and Benjamin Berger was tied for 64th. Ludvig Granlund, playing as an individual, was UMSL’s top finisher, making eight birdieds in the final round and tying for eighth with a total of 208. Midwestern State’s Seth Bearden was the individual medalist with a total score of 203, winning by two shots over Cal State San Bernardino’s Aaron Parayno and Missouri S&T’s Isaac Chern Yi To. UMSL is playing in the Doc Spragg Invitational at Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio.
Women’s Golf
No. 19 UMSL placed sixth out of 16 teams at last week’s William Beall Fall Classic at Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio. The Tritons posted a combined score of 930 in the 54-hole tournament with Wilma Zanderau and Emmy Wahl both finishing among the top 10 on the individual leaderboard. Zanderau shot a total of 228 to place ninth, and Wahl was one shot back in a tie for 10th. Mayan Covarrubias tied for 33rd with score of 237. Brooke Inchiostro, playing as an individual, tied UMSL teammate Hope Williams in a tie for 41st at 239. Ferris State’s Kamryn Shannon won medalist honors, edging Findlay’s Ashleigh Duflo in a playoff that lasted six holes. Host Findlay won the team title, posting a score of 894 to finish 14 shots ahead of its closest challenger, Grand Valley State. UMSL is playing in this week’s LeeAnn Noble Memorial at Achasta Golf Club in Dahlonega, Georgia.
Men’s and Women’s Cross Country
Will Kaempfe won his third event of the spring and led the Tritons to their first team title as they finished first in the Hannibal-LaGrange Trojan Invitational on Saturday at HLG Cross Country Course. Kaempfe crossed the finish line in 25 minutes, 50.70 seconds in the 8-kilometer race in Hannibal, Missouri. Teammates Luke Stevenson and Clement Mayo were next as UMSL claimed the top three finishers. Stevenson finished in 27:07.30, and Mayo posted a time of 27:27.90. Devon Fanning was eighth in 27:51.50, and Aaron Guss and Armando Montoya both finished in the top 20. Three of UMSL’s four runners placed in the top 15 in the women’s race. Hannah Richardson led the way with a seventh-place finish in a time of 22:05.0, and Bridget Ragan was just over seven seconds back in eighth place. Ansley Casey finished 13th, and Zoey Losch was 30th. The Tritons won’t race again until the 2025 GLVC Championship meet on Oct. 25 at Lewis Cross Country Course in Romeoville, Illinois.
Women’s Soccer
UMSL shut out McKendree 1-0 on Friday but suffered its first conference loss of the season on Sunday as it lost 1-0 to visiting Illinois Springfield, snapping a seven-match unbeaten streak. Maddie Clark‘s goal in the 19th minute on Friday is what pushed that streak to seven as the Tritons won on the Don Dallas Soccer Field. Ella Anselm and Josie Maddox both assisted on the goal, and UMSL made it hold up as goalkeeper Rylie Griffith made four saves for her fifth shutout of the season. The Tritons outshot McKendree 18-12, including a 6-4 edge in shots on goal. The Prairie Stars beat UMSL on Sunday despite getting outshot 21-7. Mallory Herber scored the match’s only goal after the referee awarded Illinois Springfield a penalty shot in the 61st minute. Avery Hesseldenz nearly tied it for the Tritons in the 79th minute after creating space for herself in the 18-yard box and forcing goalkeeper Gigi Yurevich to make a tough save to keep it from going in the bottom left portion of the goal. UMSL (6-3-2, 5-1-2 GLVC) is on the road this week, playing Indianapolis on Friday and Lewis on Sunday.
Men’s Soccer
The Tritons climbed back to .500 on the season and in GLVC play after a scoreless draw against McKendree and a 2-0 win over Illinois Springfield. Goalkeeper Jack Franklin made a pair of saves in Friday’s shutout tie, but UMSL only got off seven shots and couldn’t put any of them on goal. The Tritons fared better on Sunday with Roman Ryabchenko firing the ball into the net in the 29th minute after a corner kick by Kyler Sorber that went off the head of Colton Milosch. Milosch tacked on a goal of his own in the 69th minute with an assist from Mario Garcia and Franklin made six saves to preserve the shutout victory. The Tritons (3-3-5, 2-2-4 GLVC) head east this week to take on Indianapolis on Friday and Lewis on Sunday.
Women’s Tennis
UMSL rolled to 7-0 victory over Maryville in a dual meet Friday at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center in Forest Park. The Tritons dropped a total of six games in winning the three doubles matches. Hannah Tse, Millie Wileman and Morgan Lint were straight-sets winners in the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 singles, matches respectively. Aleksandra Lopez and Anna Favaron split their first two sets in their No. 2 and No. 5 singles matches but pulled out match tiebreakers. Giuliana Cunza won by default in the final singles match. UMSL (2-0) will wrap up the fall portion of its schedule next Sunday when it takes on Missouri Valley at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.
Men’s Tennis.
The Tritons fell 5-2 in a dual meet against Maryville on Friday afternoon at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center. Daniel Berdecio and Henry Roberts secured UMSL’s only two points as they won the No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches, respectively. Berdecio beat Lorenzo Biava 7-5, 6-2, and Roberts cruised to a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Diego Alvarez. Joan Garros forced a third set in his No. 4 singles match against Jack Quilty before falling 6-3, 5-7, 1-0. The Tritons (0-2) close out their fall schedule against Missouri Valley on Sunday at the Dwight Davis Tennis Center.
