DSU Volleyball drops third straight

Photo: Ayana Dyette, Outside Hitter, 6-0 Senior, Diego Martin, Trinidad

By Delaware State Sports Information

Dover, DE --- The Delaware State volleyball team couldn’t keep up with host Missouri State in a 3-0 loss to the Bears in the T.J. Sales/Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Tournament in Springfield, MO on Saturday. The scores were 30-14, 30-21 and 30-22. The Hornets fell to 0-3 on the season, while the Bears improved to 3-0.

In the first game, Missouri State scored the first three points and opened up a 16-5 lead on a kill by Jamie Adams.

In game two, Delaware State trailed 4-0 before rallying to tie the game at six. The Bears responded by scoring the next four points to pull away for good.

Game three was knotted at five before Missouri State scored the next four points to open up a 9-5 lead. The Hornets answered by scoring six of the next nine points, and pulled to within 12-11 after a kill by Sarah Wheatcroft. The Hornets could not record back-to-back points the rest of the game.

Missouri State was efficient from the floor, connecting on .434 of its attacks (53-for-9, 10 errors). Delaware State had an attack percentage of .165 (34-for-91, 19 errors).

Adams and Sara Thomas led the Bears with 14 kills each. Katelyn Panzau led all players with 36 assists.

Ayana Dyette led the Hornets for the third straight match with 13 kills. Freshman Erica Tajchman had the best performance of her young career, collecting seven kills and a team-high eight digs. Wheatcroft had seven kills and nine assists.

On Friday, the Hornets volleyball team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match but ran out of gas in the final game of a 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 25-30, 15-8 loss to Missouri-Kansas City at the Missouri State Tournament Friday night.

Delaware State led 7-4 in the decisive fifth game against UMKC but the Kangaroos ran off 10 straight points en route to the 15-8 win.

The Hornets lost to Sacramento State 30-9, 30-19, 30-27 in their season opener.

DSU will wrap up the tournament today with the final match against Tulsa at 5 p.m.