Eutectics earn split in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, MO – It was a Friday afternoon tri-match at the Mabee Fieldhouse that included the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy. The Eutectics were swept in their opening match by the host club Avila, 25-17, 25-18, 25-17 as UHSP dropped their third match in the last four meetings to the Eagles. It was a solid wrap to the twinbill as the Eutectics won their third straight over Haskell Indian Nations since 2019 with a XX-XX win.

The first match of the day saw Avila establish early dominance, with Maddie Jones and Megan Davies leading the offensive charge. The Eagles turned a 4-4 set into a 12-6 lead. An Amber Loo kill with an Avila error made it a four-point set, but the Eagles pulled away with a five-point run. Neither team was all that consistent at the net offensively as UHSP had six attack errors and Avila had eight in the opening set. Despite UHSP's efforts to keep the set close with another kill from Loo and a run of Eagle hitting errors, Avila pulled away with critical blocks and a Paige Huhman service ace, winning the set 25-17.

The second set looked very similar as the first as it was tied 8-8 before another lengthy Avila run. The Eagles scored six straight and nine of the next 11 to grab a 17-10 advantage. UHSP capitalized on Avila's service errors and chipped away at the lead thanks also to a kill from Tera Schumacher and an Olivia Abshire ace as they trimmed the margin to 19-15. Avila kept their composure and closed out the second set 25-18 with a pair of aces from Megan Davies and two kill from Maddie Jones.

Avila took the third set leading wire-to-wire. A 3-0 mid-set run from the Purple and Gold was fueled by a Hannah Kynaston kill and a pair of Eagle attack errors to cut the Avila lead to 11-9. But six of the ensuing eight went the way of the Eagles and a 5-0 later in the set put things out of reach at 22-12. Paige Huhman was unstoppable over that stretch as she recorded six kills during those swings. Avila secured the final set 25-17, sealing the victory.

Tera Schumacher led UHSP with seven kills and three aces, Macy Hendrix had 16 digs and Jenna Brinson added 15 assists. Avila had three players with double-digit kills led by Paige Huhman with 15. Daphne Gardner doled out 38 assists and Sophia Giorgio had 17 digs. The Eagles only hit .209 in the win while UHSP had one more hitting error than kills.

UHSP came out blazing in the first set, quickly building an 8-0 lead behind two service aces from Amber Loo and dominant net play by Sumanpreet Kaur. Haskell rallied midway through the set with kills from Aysa Benally and Tressa Jim, cutting the deficit to 9-8. After an Alaina Dugi ace knotted the set at 9-all, UHSP bookended an 8-2 run with a pair of 4-0 spurts. Trailing 17-11, Haskell closed to within two three different times, but at 24-22 a Kaur kill put the set away at 25-22.

In the second set, UHSP maintained early pressure, jumping ahead 8-3 with two kills from Amber Loo and four from Tera Schumacher. Haskell, led by Tressa Jim and Aniah Smith, staged a comeback, eventually tying the set at 1, 3, 8, 10, 11, and 14. The 14-all tie was part of a 9-1 run by Haskell where they eventually took a 20-15 lead. The Purple and Gold never got closer than four the rest of the way as Haskell won the set, 25-18.

The third set saw back-and-forth action, with the teams forging eight ties over the first 32 points of the match. At 16-16, UHSP regained the lead behind using a 5-1 run with Hannah Kynaston contributing two kills. That lead helped UHSP withstand a 4-0 run by Haskell with three of those points coming on Aniah Smith aces to re-tie things at 21-21. A pair of Kaur kills and two Indian errors gave the Eutectics a 25-21 set win.

UHSP closed the match in the fourth set, overcoming an early Haskell lead. With the Indians leading 9-7, UHSP scored eight of the next nine and Haskell never really threatened the rest of the way as UHSP secured a 25-21 victory to claim the match 3-1.

For the match, UHSP hit .145 while Haskell was at .074. Sumanpreet Kaur paced the UHSP offense with 14 kills, Jenna Brinson had a team-high 35 assists and 17 digs.

The Eutectics (3-14) take the rest of the weekend off before a mid-week road trip to Greenville on Wednesday. UHSP then opens up American Midwest Conference play next Friday when they host Central Baptist followed by a Saturday afternoon home tilt with AMC newcomer Mission University.