WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons broke into the KCAC win column with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the York University Panthers this evening (Oct. 14) inside the Garvey Center.
After the Panthers stayed in the match with a 25-21 win in the fourth set, the Falcons got kills from Emily Robbins, Abigail Ellermann, McKenzi Shurley and Grace McClintock that turned a 5-5 tie into an 11-6 cushion.
Two more kills by McClintock gave the Falcons the win 15-9 in the decisive fifth set.
"It was a great team effort, we really played hard and had a lot of standout players on defense," said Friends volleyball head coach Martin Ayin. "Definitely a team win tonight, good to get this one at home and move forward for the weekend."
The entire match was closely contested, starting with the opening set being knotted at 21-21 until two kills by Zoey Tauanu'u and a kill from McClintock helped the Falcons finish with the final four points to win 25-21 and jump on top.
York led the second set 22-21 and scored three of the last four points, finished with a kill by Alana Barron to square the match at one set apiece.
The Falcons were undeterred and bounced back when kills by Robbins, Ellermann, Grace Hendrickson and then McClintock put the finishing touches on a 6-1 close to the third set to give Friends a 25-18 win and the lead overall.
Friends enjoyed a well-balanced attack offensively, led by a career-high 15 kills from Robbins and 14 kills by McClintock. Johnson had 12 kills, while Tauanu'u recorded a team-high 26 assists and Emmah Sultz tallied 22 assists, just one shy of her career-best total.
Defensively, Antonia Perier carried the day tracking down balls all over the court on the way to a career-high 51 digs. Greely Munroe also had 20 digs, with Tauanu'u reaching double-figures with 10 digs. Shurley and Samantha Johnson also each had a pair of solo blocks for the Falcons (8-19, 1-7 KCAC).
Jasmine Scarbrough led the Panthers (2-18, 0-8 KCAC) with 18 kills and Mariah Janda had 45 assists. York placed four players in double-figure digs, led by 26 from Cassie Richardson.
The Falcons will remain at home and host Ottawa University Wednesday night (Oct. 18) starting at 7 pm.
Don't miss the Volleyball Falcons' penultimate home date of 2023, purchase tickets now!
