Outside hitter Alayna Santel had a match-high 22 kills to help UMSL pull out a 25-13, 23-25, 25-21, 16-25, 16-14 victory over Maryville on Friday evening, running the Tritons’ winning streak to 11 matches. They’re now 8-0 in GLVC play.
Volleyball
The University of Missouri–St. Louis women’s volleyball team continued its torrid play, pulling out a five-set road victory over Maryville on Friday evening before sweeping Missouri S&T on the road on Saturday in Rolla, Missouri. The Tritons have won 11 straight matches and have already clinched a spot in the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with five more league matches remaining on the schedule. The Saints gave Coach Ryan Young‘s team a great test on Friday evening in UMSL’s 25-13, 23-25, 25-21, 16-25, 16-14 victory at Moloney Arena in St. Louis. The two teams were tied at 14 in the final set when Alayna Santel delivered her match-high 22nd kill and followed it up with her third ace to close out the victory. Maggie Johnson finished with 18 kills, and Bridget Cassady and Brooklyn Young each had 14 while hitting against a strong Maryville front line that had 12 blocks. Skylar Weaver tallied 25 digs in the victory, and Marly Burbach had 63 assists. The Tritons made quicker work of the Miners in a 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 win on Saturday. They limited S&T to a .157 hitting percentage. Weaver finished with 21 of UMSL’s 58 digs. Santel had a match-high 14 kills, and Johnson added 11. Burbach recorded 43 assists. UMSL (13-5, 8-0 GLVC) will take a break from conference play to compete in the Midwest Region Crossover on Friday and Saturday at the Hammond SportsPlex in Hammond, Indiana.
Women’s Soccer
The Tritons remained atop the GLVC standings and clinched a berth in the GLVC Tournament after back-to-back 2-0 victories over Lincoln and Rockhurst last week. Maddie Clark scored in the fifth minute of Wednesday’s match against the Blue Tigers in Jefferson City, Missouri, and the Tritons remained in control throughout, outshooting Lincoln 29-5, including a 17-3 advantage in shots on goal. Josie Maddox, who assisted on Clark’s goal, added one of her own in the 58th minute. Goalkeeper Allysa Wolf made three saves before giving way to Grace Hastert over the final 12 minutes, and they combined on the shutout. Clark waited until the 53rd minute to score the first goal on Saturday against Rockhurst, but she gave UMSL a 1-0 advantage, and Ella Hickam added a tally in the 80th minute to cap the scoring. Wolf again made three saves for her fourth solo shutout of the season. The Tritons have won seven straight matches and improved to 10-1-2 overall, including 9-0-1 in GLVC play. They’ll visit McKendree on Wednesday and William Jewell on Saturday.
Men’s Soccer
UMSL went 1-1 last week, falling to Lincoln 2-1 on Wednesday in Jefferson City but bouncing back with a 1-0 shutout against Rockhurst on Saturday at the Don Dallas Soccer Field. The Tritons fell behind the unbeaten Blue Tigers in the 28th minute of the midweek match and were in a 2-0 hole after Jerome Lawel scored his second goal of the evening in the 64th minute for Lincoln. UMSL spent much of the night in its defensive end, but goalkeeper Will Winkler kept his team within striking distance with eight saves. Mario Garcia scored on a penalty kick in the 72nd minute, but the Tritons couldn’t come up with the equalizer in the final 18 minutes. Things went better for UMSL against the Hawks. Connor Randel headed in a corner kick from Benjamin Ocampo in the 67th minute for the match’s only goal, and Winkler made back-to-back point-blank saves in the 74th minute to preserve the advantage. The Tritons also got a bit of good fortune as two Rockhurst shots bounced off the crossbar. Winkler finished with seven saves. UMSL (5-5-2, 4-4-2 GLVC) currently sits in eighth-place in the conference standings and will hit the road this week, taking on McKendree on Wednesday and William Jewell on Saturday.
Men’s Golf
Six UMSL golfers placed among the top 15 individuals as the 18th-ranked Tritons cruised to a 15-shot victory at last week’s Flyers Fall Intercollegiate, hosted by Lewis last Monday and Tuesday at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club in Lemont, Illinois. UMSL finished with a combined score of 875, well clear of runner-up Quincy with its total of 890. Senior Ludvig Granlund led the way and claimed medalist honors with a 54-hole total of 214, including an opening-round 69 and a final-round 71. He birdied his last hole to finish four shots clear of teammate Logan Mayo, Quincy’s Colby Robertson and Indian Hills Community Colleges’ Evan Monaghan, who all tied for second. Benjamin Berger tied for ninth with a total of 224, and the Tritons also counted scores of 227 from Dani Solavera and Trigg Lindahl, who tied for 15th. Campbell Cox, competing as an individual, tied Berger for ninth. UMSL is back in action this week playing in the Doc Spragg Invitational, hosted by Findlay, at Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio.
Women’s Golf
Junior Mayan Covarrubias won her second career tournament, claiming medalist honors at last week’s Beall Fall Invitational at Findlay Country Club in Findlay, Ohio. She closed the tournament with a total of 216, including an opening-round 66, to win by five strokes over runner-up Ellie Yeazell of Findlay. She’s now tied for eighth on the Tritons’ all-time wins list. Hillary Currier was UMSL’s next highest finisher, tying for 17th with a total of 230. Sarah Cuney and Emmy Wahl, competing as an individual, tied for 26th and 28th, respectively, with scores of 233 and 234. That helped the Tritons secure a third-place finish in the team competition with a total of 915, 18 shots behind host and winner Findlay. UMSL is idle until next Monday when it travels to the Mystic Rock Golf Course for the Intercollegiate at Nemacolin in Farmington, Pennsylvania.
Men’s Tennis
The Tritons competed in the Dwight Davis College Open over the weekend. Daniel Berdecio went 3-1 in the first flight, losing his opening match against Washington University’s Yuanje Ma 2-6, 6-1, 11-9, but he bounced back to win his next three matches and take the consolation title. UMSL’s Bautista Rooney and Joan Garros each competed in the second flight with Rooney going 1-1 and losing in the quarterfinal and Garros dropping his first match but playing his way to the consolation final before losing. Andrea Ricart went 2-1 in the fifth flight and won the consolation final with the retirement of Maxime Moreau. The Tritons will next compete in the ITA Midwest Regionals next Saturday through Monday in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
