ADA – The East Central University volleyball team fought hard, but dropped both of their matches in Day One of the 2014 South Central Classic at the Kerr Activities Center.  The Lady Tigers (0-8, 0-1 GAC) first lost 0-3 (16-25, 15-25, 23-25) to Central Oklahoma and then fell just short in a 2-3 (16-25, 25-21, 25-11, 17-25, 14-16) decision to Missouri Southern State.

ECU was led by freshman Madyson Gill, who tallied a .286 (20k-6e-49ta) hitting percentage, two service aces, 24 digs and two blocks.  Junior Sarah Simpson added 10 kills, 10 digs and three blocks, while junior Hayley Gerken contributed 15 kills, and 10 (2-8) blocks.

The Lady Tigers will return to the court early, Saturday, Sept. 13 for an 8 a.m. match against Washburn and then play Langston at noon in the final day of the South Central Classic.

MSSU 3, ECU 2
The second match of the day was a true battle, with ECU falling just short of the win against the Lions (3-3).  Both teams put on a blocking clinic in the match, with the Lady Tigers garnering 10.0 total team blocks and MSSU adding 17.5.

ECU was led by junior Sarah Simpson, who tallied her second double-double of the season with 20 kills and 10 digs.  She also added three block assists and a service ace.  Junior Hayley Gerken tallied a team-high six (2-4) blocks and added 10 kills.  Freshman Madyson Gill earned the first double-double of her career with 16 kills and 16 digs.

The opening set saw the Lions jump out to an early 2-8 advantage and never let up on their way to the 16-25 win.

The second set was a different story, as the Lady Tigers were the ones to gain early control, going up by as many as 10 (22-12).  MSSU fought back at the end of the set and cut the deficit single digits before ECU was able to push through for the 25-21 win.

The Lady Tigers took the momentum they had gained from the set win, and from the very supportive crowd in attendance, to push out to an 11-5 advantage.  But this time they didn't let up and cruised to the 25-11 win.

The Lions rebounded in the fourth set and used several runs to gain the lead in the middle of the set and never let ECU get closer than five points before forcing a fifth set, with a 17-25 win.

The final set proved to be an abridged version of the entire match, with five tie scores and two lead changes.  MSSU jumped out to an early 4-8 lead before the crowd spurred the Lady Tigers to mount a come-back that tied the set at 10.  The teams traded the next seven serves before the Lions claimed the final three points of the match for a 14-16 victory.

UCO 3, ECU 0
In the Lady Tigers first match of the day, UCO earned a 0-3 (16-25, 15-25, 23-25) win.  ECU was out-hit .018 (23k-21e-110ta) to .212 (41k-17e-113ta), but did earn a slight edge in the service ace column (4-3).

The Lady Tigers were paced by redshirt freshman Kaci Harrison, who garnered five kills, one service ace, seven digs and two block assists.  Freshman Lily Porsa led the team on defense with 12 digs.

The Bronchos (7-0) jumped out to an early 0-5 advantage in the first set and only let ECU get within two points the rest of the set before pushing through for the 16-25 win.
In the second set, the Lady Tigers took an early 8-4 lead, but saw it trickle away in the middle of the set due to a 7-0 run by UCO.  After gaining the advantage (8-11), the Bronchos again took control and earned a 15-25 win.

The third set was much closer, resulting in 15 tie scores and four lead changes.  ECU was the first to garner an advantage, using a 7-0 run to lead 10-5.  However, UCO fought back to force the battle on a 6-1 run that tied the set at 11.  The back-and-forth battle ran all the way through the set, with the final tie at 23 before the Bronchos took the match on a 2-0 run.