Kansas City
0-1,0-0Summit League
Marshall
1-0,0-0Sun Belt
Roos Drop Season-Opening Contests to Marshall, Radford
8/29/2025 8:49:00 PM | Volleyball
Kansas City completes the Highlander Invitational Saturday morning versus Eastern Michigan
RADFORD, VA. - Kansas City Volleyball (0-2) was unable to find their footing to open the 2025 season as the Roos fell in straight sets to both Marshall (2-0) and Radford (1-1). The action got kicked off bright and early Friday morning with a 9 a.m. central time first serve between the Roos and Thundering Herd.Â
Marshall began the bout on a 8-0 run before a Thundering Herd attack error got Kansas City on the board. From there, the Roos were never able to dig themselves out of the early hole and lost the first set 25-16. Much of the same could be said for set two as KC trailed Marshall 6-1 to start the period. The Thunder Herd saw their lead shrink to as little as three points and expand by as many as 10 as Marshall took set two 25-15.Â
Kansas City showed tremendous growth in the third set, breaking out to their first lead of the game at 3-2 and keeping it all the way until Marshall tied and took the lead with their 10th and 11th points. The Roos battled well to stay in the set but were unable to make a final push and in the end dropped the third set 25-23. Returning outside hitters, Ryanne Wattree and Doga Eski led the squad in kills with nine each but Kansas City as a team committed six service errors and 17 attack errors for the match.Â
With the whole afternoon to rest and recover, Kansas City showed more flashes against the hosting Highlanders, going toe-to-toe with Radford at several junctions of their second match. The Roos got off strong in set one with kills from Wattree and Kailee Deffebaugh giving them an early 3-2 lead. The next stretch of the set was back and forth volleyball before Radford punched out on a seven point run to make it 16-10. The Highlanders took the first set 25-14.Â
The Roos tried their best to regain control of the match but were unable to do so as Radford took the second set 25-19 and the third 25-21. Kansas City found some bright spots along the way as freshman Mia Weaver delivered seven kills and nine digs. Wattree continued to lead the team in kills, posting 11 against the Highlanders to give her 20 total on the day.Â
Kansas City remains in the New River Valley for another out-of-conference clash against Eastern Michigan at 10 a.m. central time Saturday morning.
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