David Sheets reporter
The Pittsburg State women’s volleyball team exit the week with three straight wins against the Newman Jets, the Central Missouri Jennies and the Missouri Southern State Lions. All three victories came by a final score of 3-1, putting the Gorillas’ overall season record at 9-8 with a 4-3 record in the MIAA conference.
“We needed to get these wins. We needed to put ourselves in this situation,” said head coach Jen Gomez. “We’re in the thick of our conference schedule and we’ve got to get the wins when we can get them. We play really well at home, and we get to be home next weekend, so we have to keep putting our foot on the gas and keep doing what we do.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 8th, the Gorillas traveled to Wichita for their first of two matches this season against the Newman Jets. Pitt State would give up the first set of the match 25-27 before dominating the remaining three sets 25-16, 25-13, and 25-15. Sophomore Vix Vilott would lead the Gorillas in kills with 12 and senior Ivy Fink would lead the team in digs with 19 along with posting 9 kills and 4 blocks of her own.
Three days later on Friday, Oct. 10th, the Gorillas made their home debut against the Central Missouri Jennies. While the match began close with Pitt State claiming the first set 28-26 and Central Missouri claiming the second set 25-23, the Gorillas pulled away in the final two sets 25-17 and 25-18. Near the end of the 4th set, senior Ivy Fink scored a milestone 1,000th kill of her collegiate career.
“I’m really happy. Coming into (Pitt State) last year I didn’t think it was going to happen, but now I’m just super happy. I’m happy that my team led me to this.” Said Fink.
The following day on Oct. 11, Pitt State faced off against the Missouri Southern State Lions. The first two sets would be blowouts going separate ways, with the Gorillas taking the first set 25-12 and the Lions taking the second set 25-9. Pitt State came from behind to win the third set 25-22 before closing out the match in the fourth and final set 25-16. Two Pitt State players earned double-doubles, as sophomore Vix Vilott would lead the team in kills with 11 along with posting 13 digs, and sophomore Jesa Wallace contributed 15 assists and 11 digs to the match.
Pitt State will play against all three teams again closer to the end of the season. They will face off against the Jets at home on Oct. 25 and close out the season against the Lions on Nov. 15 and the Jennies Nov. 16, both matches being on the road. The Gorillas will remain at home over the weekend to face the Missouri Western State Griffons on Friday, Oct. 18, and the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats on Saturday, Oct. 19. Both matches will start at 6pm on their respective days.
