ST. JOSEPH - Missouri Western senior Tiana Butler reached her 1000th career dig on Saturday evening as Griffon Volleyball (15-12, 9-9 MIAA) kept it close in the second set with No. 2 Nebraska-Kearney (28-0, 18-0 MIAA). The Lopers won the match 3-1 against the Griffons.
Prior to the match with Missouri Western, Nebraska-Kearney only lost eight sets all season. The Griffons took the second set 25-23, but the Lopers took sets one, three and four.
Following the match with the Lopers, the Griffons are ranked sixth in the MIAA standings. With two matches left in regular season play, including a home match with fifth-seeded Central Oklahoma, there is still chance for Missouri Western to jump in the conference seeding.
NOTABLES
- The Griffons had 45 kills against the Lopers. Ali Tauchen led the way 12 kills on the night. She is now seven kills away from having 1,000 career kills.
- The Griffons totaled 97 digs as well. This total ranked second all-time in program history for a four-set match.
- Along with the pass of a career milestone, Tiana Butler had 35 digs on the night. Butler was two digs shy of a career record of 37.
- Butler's dig total also broke the four-set match record for the Griffons.
- The Griffs tallied nine blocks for the night. Ali Tauchen had four solo blocks, which was a new single match career high, while Danielle Moje tallied three.
- Moje led the team in hitting percentage with a total of .375 throughout the match.
- Lauren Murphy tallied 23 assists against the Lopers. She is now 37 assists away from having 1,000 assists on the season.
UP NEXT
- The Griffons will stay at home next week to host their final two matches of the 2019 regular season. Missouri Western will host Newman (1-27, 1-18 MIAA) on Thursday and Central Oklahoma (18-11, 10-9 MIAA) on Saturday.
- Newman dropped three sets to No. 9 Central Missouri on Saturday, while Central Oklahoma rallied to top No. 14 Northwest Missouri 3-1.
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