No. 2 Griffons stunned by Gorillas in opening round of MIAA Tournament
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) -- The Griffon's run in the MIAA Volleyball Tournament ended with a heartbreaking loss in the opening round to Pittsburg State on Thursday.
No. 2-seed Griffons (21-7, 13-3 MIAA) were upset by No. 7-seed Pittsburg State (14-14, 6-10 MIAA) in a five-set thriller on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the MIAA Volleyball Tournament at Civic Arena.
Despite battling back to take a 2-1 set lead, and with a chance to advance in front of their home crowd, the Griffons were unable to put the Gorillas away in sets four and five as they roared back to advance to the semifinal round.
The Gorillas came out strong by winning a back-and-forth first set by a score 29-27, setting the tone for the entire match.
The Griffons were able to regain momentum by winning sets two and three comfortably by seven (25-18) and eight points (25-17) respectively.
A highly-competitive fourth set saw multiple lead changes. With both teams tied at 20 with an opportunity to pull away, the Gorillas would take four of the next five points to win 25-21.
The Griffons found themselves down 4-0 to begin the fifth and deciding set. After rattling off three straight points to cut the deficit to 6-3, the Gorillas took a commanding 14-8 lead and did not look back.
Thursday's loss snapped a six-game winning streak against Pittsburg State, who now advances to the semifinal round against No. 3 Washburn on Friday at 5 p.m. at Civic Arena.
