Kansas City
7-1,7-1Summit League
South Dakota State University
2-7,2-6Summit League
Volleyball Grabs Win in Thriller with SDSU
2/22/2021 7:43:00 PM | Volleyball
Melanie Brecka posted a career-high for the third time this season, finishing with 25 kills on 57 attacks
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Melanie Brecka continued to impress, finishing with a career-high 25 kills tonight in Kansas City's (7-1, 7-1) five-set victory over South Dakota State (2-7, 2-6). Alli Schomers dished out 57 assists, one short of her career-best, and sent across a season-high six aces and the Roos squeaked out the win (29-31, 25-17, 19-25, 25-18, 18-16).
"This is definitely a 'heart attack gang,'" Head Coach Christi Posey said. "They hung in, were gritty and beat a good team."
The first set was a sign of things to come, with sixty total points being played. After falling behind 22-16, Schomers sent across four aces in five points and the Roos earned a double set point at 24-22. SDSU fought back, and Kansas City earned four more set points along the way, but the Jackrabbits were the ones to prevail in the first set.
"There are times when we make unforced errors that put us in difficult positions, and until we can get those figured out, we're going to have some tight sets," Posey said.
The Roos responded in the second set, pulling away late on another service run by Schomers. However, SDSU came back took a commanding victory in the third, putting the Roos' backs against the wall.
In the fourth set, Brecka took over. After a tight start to the set, and with the Roos' leading 9-8, she placed six kills across a span of eight points and Kansas City never looked back.
"(Brecka) realizes that in order for us to be in the upper echelon of the Summit League, she needs to perform every night," Posey said.
The fifth set was another tight one. The Roos jumped out to a 9-7 lead, and seemed to be in the drivers' seat, but South Dakota State had other plans. The Jackrabbits used a 6-2 run to give themselves a 13-11 advantage, when Schomers found Brecka for her first kill of the set. Kansas City faced one match point, and needed three of its own before a Kelsie Milkowski service ace ended the match.
The Roos finished with 13 aces on the night, led by Schomers' six. Milkowski and Kennedy Schritenthal also had great games on serve, finishing with three aces each.
"It was a high focus for us to come in tonight and be aggressive," Posey said.
In her first match in return from injury, Ashia Dorsey finished with a career-high nine kills. After a slow start on the outside, Odyssey Warren and Alex Ratzlaff finished with 13 kills each. Maddie Renn got involved in the Roos distribution, dishing a career-high eight assists to go along with 14 digs.
The Roos are back in action next weekend as they travel to North Dakota for a pair of matches on Feb. 28 and March 1. Both games will be played at 1 p.m.
"We've got to regroup and fix some of the things that SDSU exposed before we can get on the road and be ready to move on," Posey said.
