Columbia, MO - The Stars hosted the Spires from the University of Saint Mary (KS) on Tuesday night and lost 1-3 (21-25, 25-23, 16-25, 12-25). Two Stephens student-athletes were honored in a brief pre-game ceremony for the "1,000th career" club. Genevieve Nickelson was honored for achieving her 1,000th dig in a match against William Woods University on September 26th. Avery Hays was also honored for achieving her 1,000th career assist in a conference match against Cottey College on October 5th.
The Stars struck first in front of their home crowd with an ace opening set one on Staff Advisory Council night in Silverthorne Arena. Isabelle Benson thrilled the crowd mid-set when she buried a thunderous attack down the line knocking the defender off of her feet making the score 16-17. However, it was not good enough as the Spires were able to take the first set 21-25.
Set two started off with a kill out of the middle from Lena Hunziker. Not long after Emberlynn Kingsley dumped the ball over the net for the Stars to take the lead at 7-6. Kingsley forced the Spires to take the final time out of the set at the 21-22 mark. The final point was scored as Benson aced the Spires, finalizing a Stars set two victory (25-23) and locking the match in sets at 1-1.
In set three, the Spires got off to a quick start, but Benson slammed another ball down the line for an impressive kill as the Stars tried to catch up to the Spires 7-11. Towards the end of the set, Benson scored another ace for the Stars, but could not hold off the Spires as they finished the set 16-25 (1-2).
The final set of the match started off with Lena Hunziker cross-court kill that put the Stars on the board 1-2. After a timeout from Head Coach Koelling, Hunziker brought the score to 3-7 with another kill. Ultimately, the Stars lost the fourth set of the match 12-25 (1-3).
The Stars return this Thursday, October 12th at 6 p.m. for an AMC match-up against Missouri Baptist University.
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