Euts split weekend quad as Brinson reaches 3,000 assists

ST. LOUIS, MO – The Eutectics were in Arkansas over the weekend and after beating Central Baptist on Friday, UHSP split a Saturday doubleheader as they lost to Columbia but swept Hannibal-LaGrange. Setter Jenna Brinson reached another career benchmark in what has been a season filled with them. After setting the all-time school record for assists in a career, Brinson today crossed over the 3,000 career assist threshold. She had 23 assists in the first match against the Cougars and followed that 35 assists against Trojans. With now 890 assists on the year, Brinson currently has 3,038 in her career. 890 assists in a single season are fourth most all-time in UHSP history.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS:

COLUMBIA def. UHSP; 25-18, 25-23, 25-14

• Trailing 4-3 in the first, Columbia embarked on a 10-0 run to take a 13-4 advantage. The Eutectics did get the margin back to five, but the Cougars took the set 25-18.
• Brinson set up three straight kills, one from Joleigh Parker, two from Tera Schumacher and Kiley Dyer delivered back-to-back aces as part of a 6-1 run for UHSP to grab an 11-6 lead in the second set. Sumanpreet Kaur and Hannah Kynaston added kills as the Euts were up 14-7. The Eutectics seemed to have Columbia on the ropes still up six at 18-12. Columbia scored four straight to tighten the set, but UHSP got three in a row right back with kills from Sierra Aplanalp and Kynaston to lead 21-16. The Cougars margin for error was running thin despite cutting the margin to three at 23-20. But UHSP could not close the show as CC rattled off five in a row to claim the set getting a pair of kills from Kenedi Canty as part of that run.
• The two clubs traded 4-0 runs early in the third to give Columbia a 9-7 lead. The Cougars put the set away with ensuing runs of 5-0, 3-0 and 6-0 as they took the final set 25-14.
• Hannah Kynaston led the UHSP offense with ten kills while Columbia's Isabella Kincaid led the Cougars with ten.
• Neither team connected all that well offensively. Columbia had a hitting percentage of just .174 in a winning effort while the Eutectics were just over the break-even point at .009.
• The Eutectics did churn out nine blocks, but Columbia had 16.

UHSP def. HANNIBAL-LAGRANGE; 25-21, 25-10, 25-11

• To start the second match, the Eutectics had to try to regroup after the loss to Columbia. They led the first set against Hannibal-LaGrange most of the way, but could gain a comfortable lead until late. It was 15-10 when the Euts took six of the next eight points to lead 21-13. Kaur, Kynaston, Brinson and Aplanalp all had kills in that run of eight points. The Trojans were not done though as they went on an incredible near set-saving 8-1 run and all of a sudden it was 22-21. But after an HLGU service error, Brinson delivered an ace and Kaur put the set away with the clinching kill as UHSP won it 25-23.
• Set two was never in doubt as the Eutectics pounded out 13 kills with only two errors for their most efficient set of the day, swinging at 47.8%. They led 5-1, 10-4 and 15-5. A 12-2 run finished the set as Schumacher got the final kill for a 25-10 blitzing of the Trojans.
• Set three looked a lot like the second with UHSP taking ten of the first 13 points. A mid-set 4-0 run with three service points from Brinson and a pair of kills from Kynaston made it 15-6. The Eutectics wrapped up the day by taking ten of the final dozen points to win the set 25-11. Hannah Duggan finished off the proceedings with an ace.
• UHSP hit .239 in the match while HLGU was at -.036.
• Hannah Kynaston had 14 kills to pace the UHSP offense and Tera Schumacher had ten.
• The Trojans did not have a hitter reach double-digits in kills as Latai Latu led them with seven. Frannie Harris had 20 digs in the loss.
• MaKenzie Uribe had 31 digs over the course of the two matches for the Eutectics.

UP NEXT:

The string of seven straight road matches to finish the year will wrap up next weekend. The Eutectics (7-24, 6-9 AMC) visit Harris-Stowe (11-16, 7-9 AMC) mid-week on Wednesday at 6:00p and then play a twinbill in a quad at Columbia against both Central Baptist and Stephens.