STATSCAPE GIRARDEAU, MO. - The Morehead State volleyball team opened up the match against SEMO by winning the first set 25-14, which marked their seventh straight set win, but were unable to win another set the rest of the way and fell, 3-1. They lost to the Redhawks, 25-14, 18-25, 16-24, 17-25.
The loss snaps Morehead State's two-match win streak and evens their conference record at 3-3.
"Today showed how critical it is to maintain attention to detail," said head coach
Jaime Gordon. "Credit SEMO for maintaining composure throughout the match. We jumped out early and put a lot of pressure on their sideout offense. Early we were able to create transition opportunities and capitalized by turning those into points."
Coming off of two straight wins, the Eagles remained hot to start the match. They scored the first five points and opened up an early 13-2 lead before taking the opening set, 25-14. They hit .370 in the set, recording 14 kills on 27 attempts. Freshman
Merideth Jewell and junior
Sydney Schuler each had four kills in the first.
SEMO responded by opening up a 5-1 lead in the second set, but the Eagles then reeled off five straight of their own to even things up at seven. However, the Redhawks would bounce back again, outscoring MSU 11-3 to open an 18-11 lead and go on to win the second, 25-18.
The Eagles then opened early leads in both the third and the fourth sets, but could not hold on, falling 24-16 and 25-17.
After hitting .370 in the first set, MSU managed to hit just -.065, -.111, and .194 in the final three sets.
"They (SEMO) switched to a 6-2 in the second set, as we anticipated, which gave them some momentum," said Gordon. "Unfortunately, we did not answer the challenge. Our offense has been reliable the past three weeks, but in the last three sets today our efficiency dropped significantly. It is disappointing when you don't execute to the level that you are capable of."
Junior
Courtney Smith led the way for the Eagles, putting together 13 kills and 10 digs. Jewell finished with 13 kills and 11 digs, but managed to hit just .000. Schuler added seven kills.
Despite the loss, the Eagles out-killed the Redhawks, 44-37, and recorded more digs, 55-47.
Morehead State continues their four-game conference road swing with two matches away from Wetherby Gym next weekend.
"It is nice to have another full week of practice before we head back on the road," said Gordon. "This team has done a great job of walking into the gym with a purpose to get better all season long and I don't expect anything different."
They go to Tennessee Tech on Friday at 8 p.m. and then follow that with a trip to Jacksonville State next Saturday at 3 p.m.
