Patriots Earn Win over Eutectics in First Meeting as AMC Foes

The Eutectic women's volleyball team hosted its second American Midwest Conference (AMC) match of the season on Saturday against Conference newcomer Mission University (Mo.)(8-15, 2-0 AMC). The Mission Patriots swept the match with scores of 25-22, 25-10, 25-19.

The first set was close from the start as the lead bounced back and forth between the two teams. At 9-9, the Patriots won three points in a row off a kill, a UHSP error, and an ace to take the lead and hold it, forcing the Eutectics to play chase. At 20-15, the Eutectics ticked off five points in a row off an ace from Olivia Abshire and four Mission errors to tie the score at 20-20. Jenna Brinson and Sierra Aplanalp followed that up with a double block to take a 21-20 lead for UHSP. The Patriots responded with two kills, but a Tera Schumacher attack (from Brinson) tied the score again at 22-22. The final three points, however, belonged to the Visitors, who claimed the set at 25-22.

The Patriots rode the momentum into the second set, putting down kill after kill to win the eight-straight points. Sophia Michaud finally broke the Mission streak with a kill assisted by Brinson to get the Euts on the board. But, the Purple and Gold struggled to recover. Down 22-5, the UHSP team won five of the next eight points, but the gap was too much to overcome. The 25-10 set put the Patriots up 2-0 going into the third set.

the Eutectics returned to form to start the third set, playing right with the Patriots through seven tie scores to get to 7-7. Then, a Michaud kill sparked a Eutectic charge that would see the Home Team surge ahead to a score of 15-11. But, the Patriots began to chip away at the four-point deficit, re-tying it at 17 apiece, then taking an 18-17 lead after two successful attacks. Sumanpreet Kaur's kill (from Brinson) tied it up again at 18, but two UHSP errors and two Mission aces followed to put the Visitors on top again at 22-18. The Patriots gave up one more point off a service error, but finished the final points with two kills and an ace to win the set at 25-19 and claim the straight-set match victory.

Tera Schumacher finished the set with eight kills for the Eutectics and Sophia Michaud had seven. Jenna Brinson finished with 27 assists, Macy Hendrix an AnnMarie Cates recorded 11 and 10 digs, respectively, and Sumanpreet Kaur put down two block assists in the match.

The loss drops the Eutectic record to 3-17 overall and 0-2 in the AMC. Next up, the UHSP team will continue with Conference play, hosting the Missouri Baptist University Spartans (9-10, 2-0 AMC) on Tuesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. in the UHSP gymnasium. Following the varsity match, the UHSP and MBU JV teams will take to the floor at 8 p.m.