Madison Mosier finished with a career-high 11 kills, hitting .647, to lead the UMKC volleyball team (7-3) to a 3-0 win over former Summit League rival South Dakota State (1-12) on Thursday night at the Swinney Recreation Center in the opening match of the Jayhawk Classic.
The ‘Roos jumped all over the Jackrabbits early in the match, breaking a 4-4 tie in the first set with a 7-1 run that featured two Jessica Hendin aces and was capped by a kill from Sydney Crimmins. SDSU would score the next two points, but with Kaylyn Brandt and Lindsay Zych serving, UMKC used a 10-1 rally to put game out of reach before closing out the 25-10 win.
Set two was all UMKC as well, as the Kangaroos scored 10 of the set’s first 12 points with Hendin notching three of her career-high seven aces during the opening stretch. South Dakota State would only get as close as seven the rest of the way before back-to-back kills by Emma Dyer and Taylor Buhrow gave UMKC the set 25-16 and a 2-0 lead heading into the intermission.
Kansas City then ended the match with a 25-15 win in the third set after scoring nine straight points trailing 7-6 behind a pair of Hendin kills and Crimmins’ aces. The Jacks would get to within five, but three straight kills from Mosier, Buhrow and Skyler Muff sealed the match.
For the ‘Roos, Crimmins finished with six kills, hitting .417, two aces, six digs and five blocks, while Hendin notched five kills, seven aces and six digs. Muff, meanwhile, recorded six kills and six blocks and Buhrow also added six kills.
Setting up the offense, Brandt had 18 aces and eight digs and Nicole Wemhoff chipped in 17 assists.
As a team, the ‘Roos hit .345 with 12 aces and nine blocks.
The Blue & Gold will be back in action again tomorrow when they head to Lawrence, Kan., to continue play in the Jayhawk Classic when they face-off with instate rival Missouri State at 4 p.m.