The sixth-seeded Truman volleyball team suffered a 3-0 (-21, -7, -18) loss to third-seeded West Texas A&M in the first round of the 2009 NCAA Div. II tournament. Freshman Megan Sharpe led the Bulldogs with nine kills, and junior libero Casey Bruno paced all players with a match-high 18 digs.

Truman (24-13) hit just .016 in the match and committed 26 hitting errors, while West Texas A&M (35-3) hit .272 and recorded eight blocks.

West Texas jumped out to a quick lead in the first set, prompting Truman head coach Ben Briney to use a timeout down 5-1 early. The teams exchanged points until the Bulldogs rattled off a 6-2 run of their own after trailing 19-14 to pull to within one at 21-20. However, back-to-back hitting errors out of the timeout by Truman pushed the WT lead to three and gave the Lady Buffs enough breathing room for a 25-21 win in the opening set. The Bulldogs committed ten hitting errors and hit just .045 in the opening frame, while WT posted a .196 mark.

Truman fell behind quickly again in set two, as WT took nine of the first 12 points, followed by a 10-0 run to build a 19-3 lead. Though the Bulldogs scored four straight, A&M countered with six straight to take a dominating two sets to none lead.

Sharpe gave the Bulldogs a pair of early points in the third frame, but the WT hitters continued to get through the Truman block, piecing together another early lead at 11-3 before eventually closing out the match, 25-18.

Sharpe’s nine kills came on a .211 hitting percentage, while senior Lauren Graybeal put down seven kills with just one error to hit .240. Junior setter Ashley Petak recorded a double-double with 15 assists and 12 digs, and senior setter Krysta Tholen added 11 assists and seven digs.

Natalie Johnson led the Lady Buffs with nine kills, while a trio of WT attackers added eight kills apiece.

The Bulldogs graduate three seniors and will return five regular starters and its libero in 2010.

Courtesy Truman State University