Tight throughout, UHSP earns 6th straight win over Culver-Stockton

CANTON, MO – Coming off a massive upset win of the 4^th-ranked team it the country on Saturday, the Eutectics went on the road Tuesday and rallied from a set down to win their conference opener in five sets over Culver-Stockton.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

UHSP DEF. CULVER-STOCKTON; 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, 24-26, 15-11

• UHSP led 3-2 in the first when CSC scored seven in a row to grab a 9-3 lead. UHSP spent the rest of the rest trying to climb back in it, four different times getting to within two points. A double-block from Cameron Werner and Grant Hoover made it 23-21, but the Cats scored the next two to take the opener.
• Up until a shortened fifth set, the Eutectics hit a match-best .219 in the second set while the Wildcats endured their second-worst set hitting .083. The set was tight throughout featuring ten different ties. It was 22-22 when Hoover had a pair of kills sandwiched around a Wildcat hitting error for the final three points of the set.
• At 22-20 in the third, that two-point lead matched the largest lead either team had held for the set. David Quiñones delivered a service ace to give UHSP a three-point lead and the final two Eutectic points came off CSC hitting errors as the visitors took a two-sets-to-one lead.
• Trailing 13-8 in the fourth, five straight for the Eutectics tied things up at 13-13. Cooper Hansen and Werner had kills in that stretch as Quiñones rattled off four straight service points including another ace. The set was tied three more time after that, but Culver-Stockton scored six of eight following an 18-18 tie to lead 24-20. UHSP nearly wrapped it up in the fourth though as Hoover got a kill, Werner had an ace and the Wildcats had a pair of miss-hits to see the set tied again at 24-24. CSC forced a final fifth set getting back-to-back kills to claim the fourth, 26-24.
• At 3-3 in the fifth, UHSP slowly pulled away to a 10-6 lead. Leading 13-8, Culver-Stockton made things interesting with three straight points to close to 13-11. A pair of Hansen kills put the match in the win column for UHSP. In a match that featured little separation, the Eutectics were clutch when it counted as they hit at .438 in the fifth a deciding set registering kills with only one hitting error. Culver-Stockton also had their most efficient set in the fifth as they hit .294.
• Three different Eutectics had double-digit kills: Hoover (15), Hansen (14) and Werner (12). Of that trio, Werner was the most efficient connecting at .417 as he had only two hitting errors in the match.
• Riko Davis led all attackers with 17 kills, had just four errors and hit .371 to pace the CSC offense.
• Gabriel Schneekloth dished out 48 assists to quarterback the UHSP attack. He also had ten digs and five kills. Xavier Gamayo had 17 digs for UHSP while Hoover added ten.
• Matt Reese had 41 assists and six digs for Culver-Stockton.
• CSC had 21 blocks to 14 for UHSP.
• After losing their first six head to head meetings against the Wildcats, UHSP has now won six straight against CSC to even the all-time series 6-6.

NEXT UP:

A four-game road trip continues for the Eutectics (3-2, 1-0 HEART) when they visit Ottawa (5-2, 1-0 HEART) on Friday at 7:00p. UHSP will then play Kansas Wesleyan and Central Christian on Saturday. The Eutectics' next home game is Tuesday when former AMC-rival Missouri Baptist visits the UHSP Gymnasium.