Boxscore -- Emporia State 3, UNO 0
OMAHA, Neb. – The UNO volleyball team dropped a 3-0 conference match to Emporia State on Saturday, falling 22-25, 21-25, 15-25 to the No. 11 Hornets at Sapp Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Mavericks are 9-5 (2-4 MIAA), while ESU improves to 10-2 (4-1 MIAA).
Senior outside hitter
Kayla Uhing led the Mavs offensively, finishing with nine kills and a team-best three blocks. Freshman
Abby Sorensen chipped in six kills, and freshman
Megan Hutson, sophomore
Natalie Ebke and junior
Brittany Hanssen tallied five apiece. Ebke also had a match-leading 11 digs, and junior setter
Emily Myers totaled 24 assists.
In the first game, ESU took a quick 3-0 lead, but Uhing and Hanssen stormed back with a kill apiece and a block to tie it. With the score tied 8-8, the Hornets went on a five-point run and never relinquished the lead. Nebraska-Omaha narrowed the margin to 21-19 on five kills and a pair of service aces, then challenged again at 24-22 on a Hanssen kill. ESU's Katelyn Kaiser finished the set with a kill, giving the Hornets a 25-22 win.
In game two, UNO enjoyed a consistent lead until 18-17, when Emporia countered to tie it and take the advantage. Liu put her team ahead 20-19, but another kill from Uhing tied it again. A 4-1 final run with back-to-back kills with assists from Liu ended it at 25-21.
The third and final set saw the Mavs keep it tied at 5-5, but eight consecutive points gave ESU a 13-5 cushion. Two attack errors and a kill from Ebke helped bring UNO within five, but hitting errors doomed the Mavs and stretched the deficit to 22-15.Three straight points finished the set at 25-15, giving the Hornets the sweep.
Emporia State was led by Brianne Boner, who had 11 kills, and Brittany Miller, who had 10. Setter Ting Liu, the MIAA's reigning specialist of the week, had 32 assists in helping the Hornets to a .237 team hitting performance.
UNO returns to action on Friday, Oct. 1 at the Washburn Tournament in Topeka, Kan., facing Tarleton State at 9:30 a.m. and Abilene Christian at 2 p.m.
