MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State volleyball team hung tight with 24th-ranked Michigan for the second straight match, but the Wolverines proved to have a little too much firepower as they defeated MSU 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-21) in the final match of the Eagle Challenge at Wetherby Gym Saturday evening.
For the third consecutive match to open the year, MSU (1-2) got a 20-kill total from junior outside hitter Ellie Roberson. She also made just five errors on a team-high 44 attempts for her third straight plus-.300 hitting match as she posted a .341 efficiency tonight. For the weekend, Roberson smashed 62 kills (6.2 per set) and hit .363.
Redshirt freshman middle blocker Laura McDermott totaled a team best four blocks, including two solos, while Caitlin Clark dished off a team best 27 assists. The Eagles were held to a .130 hitting efficiency as the Maize and Blue had nine team blocks.
Michigan's duo of Lexi Erwin and Alex Hunt led their squad with 10 kills apiece. Jennifer Cross and Courtney Fletcher had four blocks each, and Sloane Donhoff led all players with a 20-dig stat sheet total.
The Eagles quickly found themselves down 4-0 in the first set, but a 5-1 run, higlighted by two of Roberson's kills, brought the set to a tie, 5-5. The visitors went on a 7-1 run to push out to a 12-6 lead. The Eagles crept back to within 13-9 following a Wolverine attack miscue, but that's as close as the hosts got as Michigan pushed back out ahead 19-12 before holding on to win 25-19.
Michigan hit .310 in the opening set, and while MSU had 12 kills, it also committed eight attack errors.
The second set saw the Wolverines race out to an 8-3 advantage in the early stages. A service ace from Clark put the Eagles within striking distance at 12-10. MSU kept the pressure on and made it a close affair before tying the set at 19 on an Emma Keough kill. But, three Michigan kills and a pair of ball handling mistakes, plus an attack error by the Eagles, allowed the Wolverines to score the final six points and win 25-19.
The Eagles landed 14 kills in the final set, but Michigan proved to be on even keel as it smashed in 16 kills and hit .429 to win 25-21. A slow start spelled trouble for MSU as it fell behind 8-3 again. But, MSU was able to rally back throughout the set, keeping it close until finally trailing just 22-21 after Roberson's final kill. A service error on the Eagles, an attack error, and a kill by Erwin finished off the 25-21 victory for Michigan.
Morehead State travels to the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock, Texas, next weekend. The Eagles open the four-match ledger against Northwestern State at 1 p.m. Friday.
