Roos Sweep Past Tommies, Secure Share of Summit Title

Wednesday, November 15

Kansas City, Mo.

7:00 PM

Kansas City

21-7,12-4Summit League

St. Thomas

7-20,3-13Summit League

St. Thomas (MN)

Kansas City

Photo by: Julia Kapros

Roos Sweep Past Tommies, Secure Share of Summit Title

11/15/2023 10:52:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Coach Posey Postgame Warren Postgame Highlights Photo Gallery

Kansas City used a balanced attack to dispose of St. Thomas in three sets

KANSAS CITY - Kansas City Volleyball (21-7, 12-4 Summit) handled business against St. Thomas (7-20, 3-13 Summit) this evening, sweeping the Tommies, 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-22) and securing a share of the 2023 Summit League Regular Season Championship. The Roos were led by Carly Gillen in the attack, finishing with 11 kills on .391 hitting. Gillen also contributed on four of the Roos' seven blocks on the night, and the KC back line notched 65 digs, holding UST to a .141 hitting percentage.

The win clinches the top seed for Kansas City at next week's Summit League Championships in South Dakota, the first time that the Roos have ever taken the one-seed in 23 years as members of the Summit. The Roos finish the regular season with a 12-4 conference record, sharing the title with Omaha, Denver and South Dakota. By virtue of holding a 4-2 combined regular season record against the other co-champions, KC earned the one-seed and a first round bye.

SET-BY-SET

Set One / 25-22 | Kansas City jumped out to an early four-point advantage on the serve of Kaia Dunford, led by kills from Kimora Whetstone and Odyssey Warren. The Tommies responded by drawing back within a point, but a four-point run by the Roos, including a pair of aces by Sydney Henry, gave KC a 12-7 lead. St. Thomas clawed back and took a short lead, but that was nullified as Warren sent across a pair of kills in a six-point span that put KC ahead for good. UST kept things close, cutting KC's lead to 23-22, but a kill by Warren and a block by Whetstone and Sila Ozyurek clinched the set.
Set Two / 25-16 | The set began evenly, but a three-point run that saw Henry find Dunford and Gillen for kills gave KC a 10-6 lead and sparked the Roos' dominant second set performance. Within the span of seven points, Kansas City sent across three aces, one each by Dunford, Leah Green and Blair Taylor, and expanded the lead to 20-11. From there, the Roos were able to coast, with a sneak-attack by Henry giving the Roos a second-set victory.
Set Three / 25-22 | The Roos gained an early 6-1 lead on the serve of Green, but the Tommies were quick to respond and take a lead, 14-11. A three-point run by KC included a block by Whetstone and Ozyurek, bringing the score even, and the teams went back-and-forth until a 19-19 tie. From there, Warren got her first kill of the third set and then the Roos were able to take advantage of three consecutive attacking errors by the Tommies. A kill by Dunford secured the set and match for the Roos.

STATS TO NOTE

This is just the second time in program history that Kansas City has won a regular season conference championship, the first coming in 2014 as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. Both championships have happened under the belt of Head Coach Christi Posey, now in her 13th season as the Roos' head coach.
Twenty-one regular season wins is tied for the second-most in program history, also occurring in the 2021 season. The 2014 team won 24 regular season matches, the most in program history.
Gillen's team-high 11 kills marked her 15th match this year in double-digits and the 10th of conference play. She has reached the 10-kill mark in each of Kansas City's last four matches.
Green led the Kansas City back line with 18 digs, followed closely by Dunford with 17 and Warren with 13. For Green, she has reached the 10-dig mark in each of the 25 matches she has played in this year.

UP NEXT
Kansas City will travel to Vermillion, S.D., where it will hold the top seed in the Summit League Championships. The Roos will have a bye in the quarterfinal round before playing the winner between #4 South Dakota and #5 North Dakota State on Nov. 20 at 7 p.m.