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MOREHEAD, Ky. – Junior Ellie Roberson smashed down 21 kills while hitting .310 and a school-record crowd of 1,767 in Wetherby Gym saw the Morehead State volleyball team open its season by giving 24th-ranked Michigan an extremely tough battle. The Eagles took the second set, but dropped sets one, three and four to fall 3-1 (13-25, 25-22, 10-25, 17-25) to the Wolverines.
Roberson was the go-to player for the Eagle offense, landing 21 kills on 42 attempts. No other player had double digit kills, but three Eagles contributed double digit digs as the Eagles out-dug one of the Big 10’s top programs, 49-45. Sophomore Leslie Schellhaas topped MSU with 16 ups, while Aryn Bohannon had 12 and Caitlin Clark, making her debut as MSU’s primary setter, totaled 10 scoops. She also completed her first career double-double with 32 assists.
“We got a little shaky with our ball control and got out of our system. Michigan is a really good team, real physical at the net. Anytime you take away some of your scoring options based on passing, it becomes that much harder to execute,” said MSU coach Jaime Gordon. “I think also we have to find some ways to score. But, I think we fought tonight. At no point did I feel like we gave up. And obviously Ellie had a great match. She had some big kills and got some great production for us.”
Michigan, which had defeated Marshall 3-0 earlier in the day, got a team-high 13 kills and a .478 hitting effort from Courtney Fletcher. Lexi Erwin landed 12 kills, while Sloane Donhoff led all players with 19 digs. The Wolverines also tallied 11 team blocks, while MSU had six. Emma Keough led MSU with three blocks.
The Eagles struggled out of the gate, making seven attack errors in the first set to fall 25-13. But, Roberson caught fire in the second frame as she blasted nine kills alone and hit .467 (9K, 2E, 15 att.). Bohannon also contributed five digs and three kills while making zero errors in the set.
MSU trailed 16-13 midway through the set, but three consecutive kills by Roberson and a duo block from Clark and Keough got the Eagles back to a 17-17 tie in the set. Later in the set, MSU held onto a slim 22-21 lead, but Roberson finished off the emotional victory with another trio of kills to end the set at 25-22.
Michigan came out slinging in the third set and landed 10 kills while hitting .375 while MSU committed 10 errors in the 25-10 loss. The Eagles fared better in the fourth, with nine kills, but the Wolverines’ net defense and serving proved too much. Michigan tallied four blocks and got five aces to land in the Eagles’ court.
Morehead State plays a doubleheader on Saturday, hosting Marshall at noon and then a re-match with Michigan at 5 p.m. at Wetherby Gym.
