KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Despite a career-high 13 kills from Abby Feyereisen, the University of Sioux Falls Volleyball (3-3) pushed another ranked team to the limit before falling to No. 6 Rockhurst (6-0), 3-2 (18-25, 14-25, 25-23, 25-20, 10-15) in the Rockhurst Classic on Friday night (Aug. 31).

Feyereisen, a redshirt junior from Minneapolis, Minn., not only set a career-high with 13 kills (11 kills, at St. Cloud State, Nov, 3, 2017; Bemidji State, Nov. 10, 2017), but did so on 17 attacks for a .647 hitting percentage.  She also had four block assists and a dig. Senior Bria Barfnecht also had double digits in kills with 11 on 22 attacks for a .365 hitting percentage while adding a team-high eight digs. Senior Makenna Rockeman added nine kills, four service aces and six digs while Lexi Scott had eight kills. Sophomore setter Krista Goerger supplied 28 assists.

USF, which finished the day 1-1, defeated Emporia State, 3-0, in the first match of the day on Friday. This season USF's has had three nonconference matchups against ranked opponents and pushed each of those teams. The Cougars will play William Jewell at 11 a.m., on Saturday (Sept. 1) before facing Northwest Missouri State at 3:30 p.m.
Clearly RU's hitting percentage advantage of .360 (69 kills on 136 attacks) to .203 (54 kills on 148 attacks) was a key factor. RU also had a 56-to-40 edge in dugs while USF had a 9-to-7 advantage in blocks and 8-to-5 margin in service aces.

Against Rockhurst, USF fell behind 2-0 before winning two straight sets but falling in the fifth set.

In the opening set, the Cougars dropped a 25-18 decision, hitting just .200 on 11 kills on 35 attacks. RU raced to a 14-7 edge after a kill by Emily Matio. Down 24-12, USF rallied with six straight points but the deficit was too large to overcome as Audrey Arand ended the match with a kill.

USF also had hitting issues in set two in falling 25,-14 to RU. USF had just a .033 hitting percentage with nine kills on 30 attacks. The hitting issues for USF played a key role as RU extended a 12-9 advantage to 19-13 and closed on a 6-1 run for the victory. RU hit .500 in the second set with 14 kills on 24 attacks.

With a .270 hitting percentage on 14 kills with 37 attacks, the Cougars defeated RU, 25-23, in a back-and-forth third set. After the teams had three ties early, USF scored four straight points to build a 16-11 advantage. RU rallied to tie the match at 21. After RU took a 22-21 lead, the Cougars scored four of the final five points as a ball handling error by RU ended the set. USF was able to win the set despite 18 kills and a .438 hitting percentage from RU.

In the fourth set, USF had its best hitting performance of the night. They converted 14 kills on 28 attacks for a .321 hitting percentage. USF used its strong hitting effort to open up a 10-4 lead as Barfnecht had three kills. RU closed to within 10-9 before USF had a run of five straight points for a 15-9 edge after Kenzie Byers recorded a kill.  After RU closed to within 21-17, USF outscored the host school, 4-3 to close out the set.

In fifth set, the teams traded points early before RU had a run of five straight points for a 7-3 advantage. They maintained at least a two-point lead the rest of the way. In the fifth set, USF had just six kills on 18 attacks for a .167 hitting percentage. Meanwhile RU converted 12 kills on 20 attacks for a .500 hitting percentage.