Tiffin University (11-9, 5-5 G-MAC) opened the 2023 Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover with a 3-0 defeat to No. 4 Missouri – St. Louis but bounced back with a strong five set victory over Davenport in match two.

Missouri – St. Louis 3, Tiffin 0:

The Dragons first matched up against the Tritons, who are ranked number four in the most recent AVCA Division II Volleyball Poll, on Friday morning. They are currently first in the GLVC with an 18-0 overall record and a 5-0 conference record.

UMSL was firmly in control from start to finish as Tiffin struggled offensively, hitting under .100 percent for each of the three sets.

The limited offense was led by Alivia Rew with five kills followed by Kenedi Goon with four. Addison Conti contributed 12 assists and added six digs, tied for the team-high with Olivia Karhoff. Rew also led the team in total blocks with four.

Tiffin 3, Davenport 2:

Match number two saw Tiffin take on Davenport for the second time this season. The Dragons took the victory last time around at the GVSU tournament, which also ended in five sets.

However, this time TU was forced to come back from 2-1 down after suffering a narrow defeat in the third set, 26-24.

The Dragons bounced back well, thanks to Taylor Peterson who recorded six kills in the fourth set alone. TU hit .290 for the set as a team and held on to a hard-fought set victory to force a fifth and final set.

Tiffin quickly showed why they are unbeaten in matches that have gone five sets, jumping out to an early 6-1 lead. The Panthers fought back to within one at 13-12, but a service error followed by an attacking error sealed the victory for the Dragons, improving them to 4-0 in five set matches so far this year.

Peterson ended the match with a team-high 14 kills, setting a personal season-high. She was followed by Wakaya Wilson with 10 and Kenedi Goon with nine. Clare Kwiatkowski and Conti evenly split assists as the two setters with 22 and 21 respectively.

Karhoff put in yet another outstanding defensive effort, nearly tying her season-high in digs with 22. The Dragons racked up 22 total blocks on defense, led by Rew with seven total. Kaylee Fruend and Goon both contributed with five each as well.

The Midwest Region Crossover continues tomorrow in Hammond, Indiana where Tiffin will face Parkside at 11:30 a.m.