The Emporia State volleyball team stole a five-set win (22-25, 12-25, 29-27, 25-23, 15-7) last Sunday in White Auditorium against Missouri Western State, improving their record to 13-15 overall with a 5-9 mark  in the MIAA.

The Hornets started out with an early 5-0 lead in the first set. Emporia State maintained their lead until Missouri Western went on a 9-1 run to gain a 17-13 advantage. The Hornets scored three straight points to close the gap to 17-16, but the Griffons went on another 4-1 run to take a 24-20 lead. Missouri Western fought through three set points until an Ashley Mainord kill took the set 25-22.

The Griffons jumped to an early 6-1 lead in the second set before the Hornets took a timeout. Missouri Western never lost control of the set, winning 25-12 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. The Hornets were held to a -.135 hitting percentage in the second with six kills and eleven errors.

Missouri Western took another early lead in the third set, going up 8-4. The Griffons then went on a 5-1 run to build thier lead to 13-5. Missouri Western maintained the lead until Emporia State went on a 12-4 run, taking a 20-19 lead in the process. The Griffons took back the lead to go up 22-21 but were unable to close out the victory. There were three tied scores and three set points before the Hornets took the set 29-27.

Emporia State had a 7-4 lead  in the fourth set before Missouri Western went on an 8-3 run to go up 12-10. There were five tied scores until the Griffons took a 20-17 advantage. The Hornets regained a 22-21 lead before two more tied scores. The Hornets scored back-to-back points to take the set 25-23 and tie the match score at 2.

The Hornets would take a 6-3 lead in the fifth set, and went on a 5-0 run to extend their advantage to 11-6. Emporia State sealed the deal with a 15-7 victory, taking the match 3-2 and improving their record to 5-3 in five-set matches this season.

The Hornets will travel to #15 Central Missouri on Friday for a 6:00 p.m. match start.