Kansas City
4-1,4-1Summit League
Western Illinois University
0-6,0-5Summit League
Brecka's Career-High Leads Roos to Victory
2/14/2021 7:16:00 PM | Volleyball
Melanie Brecka threw down 24 kills, Odyssey Warren added 17 on .457 hitting in the five-set win
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For the third match in a row, Kansas City volleyball (4-1, 4-1) went all five sets, defeating Western Illinois (0-6, 0-5) 25-23, 24-26, 22-25, 25-22, 15-11. Melanie Brecka led the Roos, posting a career-high 24 kills.
Kansas City started slow in the first set, falling behind 23-19. It was a set marred by sloppy play, as the Roos made nine errors in the attack, four on serve and two on service receptions. They picked it up when they needed to, rattling off six-straight points to end the set, led by three kills from Alex Ratzlaff.
Service errors continued to hurt the Roos through the next two sets, as they committed 13 on the match. Despite closely-played sets, the Leathernecks pulled both out and took a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, Odyssey Warren showed up to play. After notching 10 kills in the first three sets, she threw down five in the fourth to lead the Roos alongside Brecka. After trailing by as many as five points on early on, Kansas City took just its second lead of the set at 23-22, winning the final five points to force a fifth.
The final set was where Brecka made her mark felt the most, posting five kills on seven attacks. The Roos hit .350 as a team in the final frame, breezing to a second-straight five-set victory.
Warren ended the match with 17 kills on .457 hitting, the most efficient offensive day by a Roo so far this season. Alli Schomers ended with 56 assists and 12 digs for her second double-double in a row and second of the year. Ratzlaff posted her third double-double of the year, finishing with 15 kills and a team-high 15 digs.
Brecka finished with 24 kills on .383 hitting, besting her previous career-high of 22 kills, reached against NDSU in the Roos' season-opening win. She added nine digs, an ace and a block assist, finishing with a game-high 25.5 points.
The Roos and Leathernecks will play again tomorrow evening with first serve set for 4 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the Roo Sports Network.
