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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Morehead State's volleyball squad withstood a ferocious comeback by visiting Southeast Missouri Friday night as the Eagles took the final set and won 3-2 (25-18, 25-19, 14-25, 24-26, 15-9) over the Redhawks in Wetherby Gym.
MSU improves to 21-6 overall and 16-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference, while SEMO falls to 11-16 and 9-7 in the league. MSU head coach Jaime Gordon also won his milestone 250th career collegiate match.
The teams combined for 175 digs, 23 team blocks, 118 kills and also 58 attack errors. The Eagles cruised to a seven-point victory in the opening set by hitting .356 with 21 of their 25 points off kills. MSU cooled off in the second frame, hitting just .213 but still nailing 17 kills to win by six.
The Redhawks, who had 14 blocks, turned up the pressure in the third set as they forced MSU into 13 attack errors. SEMO smashed 16 kills in the fourth set and hit .256 en route to a two-point win, but the Eagles responded with seven kills and a couple of key service aces to hold off the SEMO comeback attempt.
MSU junior middle blocker Annie Gruenschlaeger had 11 kills and no errors in the first two sets and finished with a team and season-high 18 winners while hitting .351 for the night. She also added five blocks, including two in the fifth set. Redshirt sophomore Aryn Bohannon smacked 17 kills and completed her 10th double-double of the year with 15 digs. Redshirt senior Emma Keough hit .270 and totaled 15 kills and three blocks, leaving her just four short of tying the MSU career mark for block assists. Junior Ellie Roberson also reached double figures with 10 kills.
Defensively, the Eagles came up with a season-high 97 digs, including 34 by sophomore libero Leslie Schellhaas for her third 30-plus dig match of the year. Sophomore Lindsey Roth scooped up 15 SEMO attempts, and junior Caitlin Clark posted her 10th double-double with 59 assists and 15 digs, while also collecting three blocks. Redshirt freshman Laura McDermott helped reject five SEMO attacks.
The Redhawks got a prolific double-double by Emily Coon. The 6-foot-2 middle hitter, who leads the league in blocks, had 10 blocks and 15 kills while hitting .371 on the night. Colleen Yarber notched 11 kills and 14 digs, and libero Berkley Idel led her team with 28 digs. SEMO totaled 78 ups as a team. Setter Julie Shives had 17 of those digs and also handed out 35 assists.
MSU had a chance to put the match away in the fourth set, leading 22-20 and holding the serve. But, SEMO scored two straight before a kill by Bohannon stopped the mini-rally. SEMO had a set point opportunity at 24-23, but freshman Alex Fuelling slammed an emphatic kill to send it to extra points. Unfortunately, Fuelling misfired on two straight to force a fifth set.
The Eagles raced out to a 6-2 advantage in the final set, but the Redhawks rallied with a 6-2 run to tie it at 8-8. However, senior Liz Schuler served up two aces to propel MSU to a 7-1 run to end the match.
Morehead State will honor Keough and Schuler for senior day on Saturday as the eagles host Murray State at 2 p.m. ET.
