Issue date: 11/15/07 Section: 2007 South Central Regional

For Emporia State University, the third time is a charm.

For the third time in as many weeks, the Hornets volleyball team found itself in the familiar setting of Truman State University's Pershing Arena. To put it mildly, they were comfortable.

"I mean, we know the password to the locker room by heart by now," sophomore outside hitter Arica Shepard said.

In the last two games, Emporia found itself on the losing end of the stick. Thursday night, however, the No. 4 Hornets tasted victory when the Beat No. 5 Pittsburg State University 3-0 (30-25, 30-28, 30-25) in the first round of the NCAA Div. II South Central Regional Tournament.

The game marks the third match up between the Hornets and the Gorillas of the season, with Emporia winning both previous matches. Coming into the game, the team's spirits were high.

"Before the game, we had a meeting and we were talking about the fact that confidence is not a problem," Emporia head coach Bing Xu said.

In the last matchup between these two teams last month, the Hornets had to battle back to take the match 3-2. Shepherd said that win was where much of the team's confidence came started.

"We came here knowing we can beat them and that we wanted it more than they did," she said.

Emporia's desire to win came out early in the first game, when they strung together set of four and five points, respectively, with Shepard leading the way with four kills. Pittsburg answered back, however, with an attack of its own, spearheaded by junior right-side hitter Sammie Williams, who tallied seven kills of their own.

At the start of the second game, Pittsburg held onto a tight lead. However, Emporia junior middle hitter Hannah Carter helped the Hornets rally to take an 8-point lead.

The Gorillas weren't going to go quietly in game two, though. With the Hornets about to slam the door shut, Pittsburg was able to push it to a one-point game. It was a kill by freshman middle hitter Brittney Miller who helped Emporia lock up its second win.

For the third and final game, it was the Hornet combination of Carter and Shepard that teamed up with 6 more kills each to push the Hornets over the top to take game three. Shepard's kills, coupled with her 15 digs in the match, mark her 11th straight double-double, with 28 overall on the season.

It was consistent numbers like those, Pittsburg head coach Ibraheem Suberu said, that made the Hornets so tough.

The loss marks the end of a season for Gorillas, who had hopes of traveling further in the tournament than just the first round.

"It's heartbreaking," Williams said. "Especially for the seniors, because this season was all about them."

The Hornets will move on and face off against Truman State University tomorrow. Shepard said in the postgame press conference that she hoped the Hornets would play Truman, and the Bulldogs dispatched Albany State in straight games.

"We've lost twice so far to [Truman], and it is just a game that we really want to win. That would be my one goal this season would be to beat Truman."

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