TOPEKA -- Despite two 3-1 losses, the Pittsburg State Volleyball team showed promise on opening day. The Gorillas opened the Washburn Invitational with a 3-1 (18-25, 25-14, 25-13, 25-15) loss to Midwestern State and followed with a loss (25-16, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21) to Quincy in the nightcap.
Many players saw court time in the two matches, with nine different players scoring at least one point on the day. Maggie Highberger led the Gorilla scoring efforts with 21 kills, recording double figure kills in both matches, three service aces and two block assists. Peyton Walker led the team with 13 kills against Quincy and added five more against Midwestern State. Lauren Regier had 12 total kills, Noelle Dooley, 10, and Taylor Unke, nine. Dooley had three block assists, all against Quincy. Carolina VanBuskirk ran the Gorilla offense and recorded 22 assists in the first match and 35 in the second.
Ashlen Schwartz was sharp defensively with 27 digs on the night, double figures in each match. Lauren Maisberger recorded 10 digs against Quincy and added six against Midwestern State. Taylor Wright was just short of double figures with nine digs against Quincy, while VanBuskirk had eight against Midwestern State.
The Gorillas came out firing in the first set of the day. They took the lead in the set for good on a Walker kill to go up 9-8. Back-to-back hitting errors by Midwestern State gave Pitt State a three-point lead and they hung on from there for a 25-18 win.
Midwestern State had control of the next three sets as the Gorillas were plagued with errors. The team only managed 14 total kills in the second and third sets combined. Though they lost the fourth set, it was the Gorillas' best statistically. The team put down a match-high 11 kills and its fewest hitting errors.
The Mustangs outblocked Pitt State 7.0 to 1.0. The Gorillas had only two fewer digs.
Pitt State was a little flat in the first set against Quincy, but revved up in the remaining sets. The team improved their numbers both offensively and defensively from the first game of the day. After hitting only .072 against MSU, the team hit .125 against Quincy and also added two more blocks. The team also scored so or more points in each of its final three sets.
The Gorilla got down 2-0 against Quincy, but fought back to win the third set. A Highberger kill broke an 18-18 tie and gave Pitt State its first lead since 2-1. Walker added a kill for a two-point lead, but a Pitt State service error and a Quincy kill led to the sixth tie of the set at 20-20. Walker answered with another kill to give the Gorillas the lead for good. Pitt State allowed Quincy to score only one more point while Regier added a kill and Walker score the set winner.
The fourth set saw seven ties and three lead changes as Pitt State fought late into the set before eventually falling 25-21.
The Gorillas will continue Washbutn Invitational play on Saturday (September 3), against Drury at 11:30 a.m. and Mary at 3:30 p.m.
