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ARCHIVED WEBCASTMOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Wednesday night's match at Wetherby Gym, but Eastern Kentucky came all the way back to score a 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference victory. Set scores were 21-25, 20-25, 25-18, 25-20 and 15-7.
The Colonels improve to 13-6 overall, 3-0 in league play and 4-3 in road matches. The Eagles slip to 0-16 overall, 0-3 in conference action and 0-7 in home contests. The win was EKU's first at Wetherby Gym since 2006. MSU continues to hold a 62-45 advantage in the all-time series.
"Any loss is disappointing, but you have to give Eastern Kentucky a lot of credit," Head Coach Jaime Gordon said. "EKU is a very good team, and we knew that coming in. I was pleased with some of the things we did early, but they made some adjustments after the second set and we didn't."
The defeat overshadowed Morehead State's first triple-double since 2008 as sophomore outside hitter Bailey Nichol posted 19 assists, 12 kills, 12 digs, three aces and two blocks. She hit .423, with only one error in 26 total swings. All figures were team highs with the exception of assists.
Morehead State tallied an 11-4 edge in team blocks. Junior middle blocker Hannah Sigala added 12 winners and three rejections for the Eagles, while sophomore libero Hope Rillema collected a team-best 17 digs and senior setter Colbey Cameron handed out a team-high 26 helpers.
Eastern Kentucky recorded an 80-72 advantage in digs, 62-57 upper hand in kills and 58-53 edge in assists. The Colonels hammered eight aces, while the Eagles were limited to four. EKU gave away just five points via the serving game, while MSU committed 13 service miscues.
Senior outside hitter Alexis Plagens, one of four Eastern Kentucky players in double-figure kills, collected 14 winners and 16 digs. Senior setter Abbey Cvelbar handed out a match-best 47 assists for the Colonels, while senior libero Dena Ott was credited with a match-high 28 digs.
EKU opened with attack percentages of .000, .167 and .159, but finished with a .353 clip in the fourth set and .429 mark in the final stanza. The Colonels posted 10 kills and just one miscue in the final frame. MSU reached a high of .342 in the second set and finished at .224 for the night.
"I'm sure our players are feeling some pressure without that first win of the season," Gordon said. "We have to keep things in perspective and remind them it's about the season-long process. We're on a journey together, and I still think we have a chance to turn things around by the end of the year."
The match, which attracted 629 fans, featured 27 ties and 13 lead changes.
Morehead State continues league play on Saturday at Austin Peay. First serve is set for 3 p.m. ET. The contest will be shown live and free of charge on the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network. MSU's next home matches will be Oct. 10 and 11 against UT Martin and Southeast Missouri.
"One thing I have to say is our student-athletes are working their tails off in practice," Gordon said. "I haven't had to motivate them at all this season. Our young ladies are hard enough on themselves. No one is pleased with our record, but there's only one direction to go and we plan on doing that."
