WEDNESDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Morehead State 0 (29-27, 25-22, 25-18)
Eastern Illinois 3, @SIUE 1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky fought off rival Morehead State in three close sets to come out with a win Wednesday night on its home court, McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels won by scores of 29-27, 25-22, and 25-18.
Ally Peters and Johanna Boyer led the Colonels in kills with seven each, while Celina Sanks and Rachel Vick followed closely behind with six each. Both Peters and Vick had a hitting percentage of over .350, while Morehead’s leading hitter came in at .304.
Boyer also led EKU in assists, at 13. Freshman libero, and reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Week, Chloe Rojas tied for the game-high with 15 digs.
Morehead State led EKU nearly the entire first set, reaching set point three ahead of the Colonels. A set of errors from the Eagles decreased the deficit to one. Peters tied the game with a kill. A kill by Vick and an error on the MSU side allowed the Colonels to seal the set 29-27.
Eastern used a 6-0 run late in the second set to turn a 21-18 deficit into a 24-21 lead. Peters ended the set with a kill.
Lauren Osuch played an important role in the third set. A kill by Osuch put EKU on top early in the set. The Colonels would only trail one more time, by one point, for the remainder of the match. A service ace, again by Osuch, closed the third set and match
MSU was led by Merideth Jewell’s 15 kills, along with 11 kills from Courtney Smith.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois University volleyball team continued their dominating streak to begin Ohio Valley Conference play despite dropping their first set, as they trumped SIU Edwardsville 3-1 to improve to 3-0 in the OVC.
A fairly even match was played to begin the first set as a service ace from Kayla Nesbitt tied the set up at 8-8. EIU began to work up a lead to 19-15 behind a kill from Abby Saalfrank. SIUE would cut the Panther lead following an EIU ball handling error to put the score at 22-20 in favor of EIU. Abby Knight put an end to the Cougar rally, as her kill finished the set with a 25-20 decision.
A closely played set happened throughout the second game. Both teams battled for leads, only to see them diminish. Saalfrank brought the Panthers back to within a point at 23-22 with a put-down, but SIUE would take advantage of another Panther error and would use a kill from their Carley Ramich to steal game two away from the Panthers 25-22, marking the first set the Panthers have dropped to begin OVC play this season.
With the game tied up at a set apiece, both teams were in search of taking a game advantage with a third set victory. Saalfrank gave EIU a slight 16-15 lead, as the Panthers would not trail the rest of the set. With the score 21-19 in favor of the Panthers, a Chelsea Lee kill and a pair of SIUE errors sealed up the third game for EIU 25-20.
A quick 7-2 lead by the Cougars called for a Panther timeout to begin the fourth set. The timeout seemed to have knocked SIUE out of their rhythm, as the Panthers went on an 8-2 run of their own to take a 10-9 lead following a Maria Brown kill. The two teams would continue to trade leads throughout the rest of the set until Taylor Smith put down a winner to give the Panthers a 23-21 advantage. A pair of EIU kills from Brown and Saalfrank earned the Panthers a fourth set victory 25-22, and the match 3-1.
Brown finished the game with a kill/dig double-double as she tallied 11 kills and 20 digs to lead the team. Smith added an assist/dig double-double of her own as she totaled 26 assists with 11 digs. Allie Hueston continued her impressive hitting streak as she finished with nine kills while posting a .600 hitting percentage. Stephanie Wallace helped the defensive efforts by adding 15 digs.