From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
WARRENSBURG, Mo. — Corrinne Stringer and Pamela Cartagena logged double-doubles as Pittsburg State knocked off fourth-seeded Emporia State 3-1 (25-15, 16-25, 25-12, 25-23) on Thursday night in the NCAA Division II South Central Regional volleyball tournament at the UCM Multipurpose Building.
The fifth-seeded Gorillas (25-10) are in the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in the last seven years and have advanced to the second round for the second time. PSU meets top-seeded and tournament host Central Missouri (33-4) tonight at 8:30. The Gorillas and Jennies split their regular-season meetings, with each team winning on the road. The Gorillas, in fact, are the only team to beat Central Missouri at home this season.
The opening semifinal at 6 pairs second-seeded Washburn (33-4) against No. 3 West Texas A&M; (35-3).
Stringer, a sophomore, collected 15 kills, 13 digs, one block and five block assists to lead PSU, and Cartagena, a senior and the MIAA Player of the Year, finished with 12 kills, 12 digs and 2 aces. Her third kill in the fourth set was No. 1,826 of her career, passing the school record held by former teammate Sammie Williams.
Brooke Fay also had 12 kills and three block assists for the Gorillas. Setter Emily Vosseler had 39 assists, and libero Cassie Wilson had 16 digs.
Arica Shepard, who joined Cartagena as the only unanimous all-conference selections, had 19 kills and 18 digs for Emporia State (29-6), and Brittney Miller had 18 kills. The Hornets had 62 kills — 11 more than PSU — but the Gorillas had only eight attack errors compared to 25 for ESU.
