WEDNESDAY'S SCORE
@Marshall 3,
Morehead State 2 (25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 12-25, 15-12)
MARSHALL 3, MOREHEAD STATE 2
HUNTINGTON, W. Va. - Morehead State’s volleyball team nearly erased a 2-0 deficit at Marshall Wednesday afternoon, but the host Thundering Herd edged the Eagles in the fifth set to win 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 17-25, 12-25, 15-12) at the Cam Henderson Center.
Marshall upped its mark to 4-4, while the Eagles fell to 2-6.
Both teams were plagued by miscues. MSU goofed on 16 serves, while the hosts committed 15 service mistakes.
MSU junior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon turned in a team-best 13 kills and a season-high 14 digs, while senior right side hitter Ellie Roberson and senior middle blocker Annie Gruenschlaeger totaled 12 kills each. Gruenschlaeger hit a team-hit .355 with just one error on 31 swings and also tallied three aces. Senior setter Caitlin Clark had a double-double with 37 assists and 13 digs.
Marshall was paced by Laura Der’s 12 kills and Dorothy Rahal’s match-best 23 digs.
After making 16 errors in the first two sets, MSU’s attackers only committed 11 errors in the final three sets, hitting better than .250 in that span. The Eagles forced Marshall into the negative hitting percentages in sets three and four. MSU Junior libero Leslie Schellhaas came up with a team-best 19 digs for the Eagles, while junior defender Lindsey Roth had a season-high 17 ups.
The ‘Herd raced to a 9-1 lead in the first set before MSU halted the runaway and cut it to four (15-11). The Eagles stayed closed but never trimmed the deficit to less than four. MSU served up six errors in the first set and committed nine attack errors. Marshall used a 4-0 run to break a 5-5 stalemate in set two and never relinquished the lead. The Eagles cut the ‘Herd advantage to 11-9 following a Marshall attack error, but the hosts again pulled way with a 7-2 run to catapult them to an 18-11 lead. MSU improved its’ efficiency in the second frame with 14 kills and only six errors.
The Eagles put together a 10-3 run midway through set three to gain an advantage. With the set tied at four, MSU used three Bohannon kills plus two aces and a block from Gruenschlaeger to push ahead 14-7. Marshall did not trim the Eagle lead below seven the remainder of the set. The fourth set was again tied at four, but a 15-4 Eagle scoring flurry set the tone for the 25-12 win. Gruenschlaeger landed a kill to begin the rally, and freshman middle blocker Hannah Sigala capped it with a block.
Marshall’s Lauren Legge broke an early tie in the deciding set with a successful spike, and the Eagles never led throughout. MSU never trailed by more than four but could not stave off the loss. The Eagles had 53 kills, made 27 attack errors, and out-dug the hosts 76-59 for the day. MSU also tallied eight blocks.