The William Jewell volleyball dropped both ends of the 2018 season opener, falling to Southeastern Oklahoma State 3-2 and Henderson State 3-0 on Friday afternoon in Topeka, Kansas. 
 
GAME 1 – Southeastern Oklahoma State (23-25, 25-23, 25-21, 24-26, 12-15)  
HOW IT HAPPENED

• SET ONE: Jewell fell into an early 5-1 hole but rallied to take their first lead at 13-12. With the score knotted 17-17, the Savage Storm responded by scoring six of the final ten points to take the opening set. 
• SET TWO: The Cardinals jumped out to an early 11-7 lead, aided by four errors from SEOK. The Storm took a late lead at 23-22 but kills from Maddie Wingert and Mary Booton helped push Jewell to the 25-23 win. 
• SET THREE: Set three was a back-and-forth affair with neither team able to take more than a two point until late. Trailing by one the Cardinals rallied off five consecutive points on four Storm errors to take a 21-17 advantage. Three more errors gave Jewell the 25-21 win. 
• SET FOUR: The Cards could not hold on to a late lead, sitting at set point, 24-23, but SEOK scored the final three points to take set four and force a fifth and deciding set.   
• SET FIVE: Jewell fell into an early 7-4 hole and could not recover in the final set, falling 15-12. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Cardinals were outhit 65-57 but posted a .201 attack percentage while holding the Storm to a .163 clip.
• Jewell posted 13 blocks compared to just five by Southeastern.
• The Storm managed 12 service aces while Jewell totaled just four. 

 
LEADERS OF THE FLIGHT

• Kills: Wingert (15), Booton (11), Paityn Hardison (8)
• Aces: Lacey Albers (2)
• Blocks: Albers (8), Elizabeth Quinn (5), Booton (4)
• Assists: Megan Rhule (34)
• Digs: Oliva Tolberd (32), Hardison (25), Lauren Castaneda (10)

 
 
GAME 2 – Henderson State (25-23, 25-16, 25-16) 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• SET ONE: The Cardinals held a lead majority of the opener but faltered late. Leading 19-14, Jewell committed four errors, which led to a 5-1 run by the Reddies to tie the set at 20.  Henderson State continued their rally and outscored the Cards 5-3 to take the set. 
• SET TWO: Jewell responded in the second frame by matching point-for-point with the Reddies to the tune of a 10-10 game, until a 15-3 run gave Henderson State the two set lead. 
• SET THREE: The Cardinals could not recover from an early hole in the finale, falling behind by as many as 10. Jewell made a late push, scoring five of the final eight points on two kills each from Meghan Tauke and Paityn Hardison but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit. 

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Cardinals posted 38 kills to the Reddies' 36 but hit just .175 for the match compared to .238 by HSU. 

 
LEADERS OF THE FLIGHT

• Kills: Hardison (13), Maddie Wingert (6), Jenna Rau (6)
• Aces: Lacey Albers (1), Kennedy Ruckh (1)
• Blocks: Elizabeth Quinn (3)
• Assists: Megan Rhule (19)
• Digs: Olivia Tolberd (14)

 
YOU SHOULD NOTE

• Tolberd's 46 digs on the day continues her streak of 61 consecutive matches with double-digits digs. Her 32 against Southeastern Oklahoma, matches her season high from 2017.
• Hardison's 25 digs opposite Southeastern Oklahoma is the most in a freshman debut since Ruckh's 20 against West Alabama in 2016.

 
UP NEXT 

• Saturday, August 25 (Topeka, Kansas) - Dallas Baptist (9 a.m.) / Colorado-Colorado Springs (3 p.m.)