Fort Hays State University volleyball hits the road for its final four matches of the season, the first two coming Friday and Saturday. The Tigers (13-14, 7-11 Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Assocation) play at Missouri Western (20-6, 14-4 MIAA) on Friday at 7 pm, and at Northwest Missouri State (9-17, 6-12 MIAA) on Saturday at 2 pm.
The Tigers have played well away from home this year, a combined 9-7 in their road and neutral site matches combined. The Tigers fell at home to both Missouri Western and Northwest Missouri State earlier this year.
Fort Hays State is 6-2 in its last eight matches, the only losses coming to a pair of nationally ranked teams in Nebraska-Kearney and Central Missouri. In that stretch, the Tigers have done a great job spreading around the offensive attack as seven players have more than 35 kills. Mallory Flagor leads that group with 86 kills, followed by Taylor Mares with 72. Those two continue to lead the Tigers in kills for the season, Flagor with 333 and Mares with 233. Rebekah Spainhour has also cracked the 200-kill plateau, currently with 209.
Raegan Vanderplas has jumped into the starting role at setter and is averaging six assists per set in the last eight matches. Kristin Conor complements her by adding 5.04 per set in the two-setter offense. Both have played solid defense in that span, Vanderplas averaging 2.77 digs and Conor 2.07 digs per set. At the net Callie Christensen has averaged 1.31 blocks per set in the last eight matches with a total of 38.
The Tigers will need to win three of their last four matches to secure a winning season, but they have already matched their most wins ever in MIAA play since joining the conference in 2006.