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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- The Marshall volleyball team hit a season-high .356 on its way to a 25-17, 25-13, 25-14 victory over Morehead State before a crowd of 1,746 on Tuesday at the Henderson Center. The special matinee included several elementary-school youngsters from the area.
The Conference USA Thundering Herd improves to 5-6 on the season, while the Ohio Valley Conference Eagles slip to 0-10. MSU still holds a 43-18 advantage in the all-time series.
"Give Marshall credit, because they have a nice team, but I thought we would be much further along at this point in the season," Head Coach Jaime Gordon said. "We need to work on execution in all phases of the game. Our young ladies are capable of playing better, and I think they will."
Marshall's offense produced at a .417 clip in the first set, .529 mark in the second and .219 percentage in the third. The Thundering Herd recorded 37 kills, with just 11 errors, in 73 swings.
"Marshall's hitting percentage today (.356) was too much to overcome," Gordon said. "We need to get more consistent touches at the net, and we have to come up with more digs in the back row. It also hurts when you play more than 100 points and only come up with one team block."
Marshall managed a 6-1 advantage in team blocks and 31-21 upper hand in digs. The Thundering Herd was also credited with 35 assists, while the Eagles notched just 25.
Junior middle blocker Lauren Legge posted a match-best 10 kills for MU, while junior middle blocker Jillian Shemanski collected a match-high four blocks, six winners and .750 attack percentage.
Freshman outside hitter Alli Evans tallied nine kills for MSU, while senior right-side hitter Alex Fitzmorris added eight. Senior setter Colbey Cameron notched 15 assists, but the Eagles hit just .141.
"I thought Alli did some nice things on the court today," Gordon said. "She's a freshman who is making progress, but we need more production from our returning players. We have several players on this team who have won conference championships and are capable of helping us to victories."
Morehead State heads to the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge this weekend. The Eagles open with Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Notre Dame on Friday at Noon ET before facing the 11th-ranked Boilermakers at 7:30. MSU will close out the event against Saint Louis on Saturday at 5.
"We certainly recognize the quality of the three teams at this upcoming tournament, but I'm more concerned right now about how we are playing," Gordon said. "We can't get too overly concerned about the opponent when we have so many things on our side of the net to worry about."
