Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 KANSAS CITY, MO. – The East Central University volleyball team dropped the first two matches of the 2014 season, falling to Pittsburg State (0-3) and William Jewell (1-3) in the first day of the Rockhurst Classic.

The Lady Tigers (0-2) were led by sophomore Jessica Sullivan, with 15 kills, six blocks (1-5) and a .250 (15k-6e-36ta) hitting percentage.  Junior Sarah Simpson added a team-best 18 kills and 18 digs, while redshirt freshman Kaci Harrison tallied 10 kills and 10 digs.

The Lady Tigers will return to action at the Rockhurst Classic, Saturday, Sept. 6 when they face Missouri Western at noon and Northwest Missouri State at 2:30 p.m.

William Jewell 3, ECU 1
ECU fought hard in the second match of the day, falling 1-3 (22-25, 25-23, 17-25, 11-25) to William Jewell.

The Lady Tigers were paced by Simpson, who tallied 14 kills and 14 digs for the first double-double of the season.  Freshman Lily Porsa and redshirt freshman Dahyana Essix were also strong on defense, with Porsa garnering 12 digs and Essix 10.

The opening set was a battle for control, with 10 tie scores and three lead changes.  The final tie came at 16-all after ECU went on a 2-0 run.  However, the Cardinal (1-2) pushed back with a 4-1 run to take control of the set for good on the way to a 22-25 win.

The Lady Tigers took an early lead in the second set, 6-3, and pushed the advantage out to six points (12-6).  However, William Jewell didn't quit and slowly chipped away at the deficit, tied the set at 19 and took a 19-21 lead with a 5-0 run.  ECU quickly battled back and tied the set at 22.  The Cardinal took the next points, but the Lady Tigers used a kill from Simpson, a William Jewell error and a block by freshman Alex Campbell and Sullivan to earn the 25-23 victory.

The Cardinal took an early 2-9 advantage in the third set and never let ECU get closer than three points the rest of the set on their way to a 17-25 win.

The fourth set was similar to the third, with William Jewell pushing ahead early before earning the 11-25 win.

Pittsburg State 3, ECU 0
In the opening match of the season, the Lady Tigers fell 0-3 (17-25, 11-25, 13-25) to Pittsburg State.

ECU was led by Sullivan, who tallied nine kills, two blocks and hit .375 (9k-3e-16ta).  Sophomore Madison Seiler added 21 assists and seven digs.  Campbell added a .444 (4k-0e-9ta) hitting percentage.

The opening set started as a back-and-forth battle, with the Gorillas (1-0) opening with a 0-3 lead, but then saw the Lady Tigers (0-1) fight back to tie the set at three.  However, that is as close as ECU would get in the set, as PSU then went on a 9-3 run to push the lead out to four (6-10).  The Gorillas held the lead the rest of the set by no less than three on their way to the 17-25 win.

PSU took an early 2-7 lead in the second set and never let ECU get closer than three points on the way to the 11-25 win.

The teams traded the first 12 serves for a 6-all tie before the Gorillas opened up the set with a 6-2 run.  PSU kept pushing and earned the set and match victory with a 13-25 scores.