GAME NOTES | LIVE VIDEO (
AUSTIN PEAY ) | LIVE AUDIO (
EKU ) | LIVE STATS (
EKU |
AUSTIN PEAY )
MOREHEAD, Ky. - After splitting their first two OVC games, the Morehead State volleyball team (4-12, 1-1)) travels to Richmond, Ky. to face EKU (2-15, 1-1) on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. before returning home and squaring off against Austin Peay (5-12, 0-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The game on Saturday will be Senior Day as MSU's lone senior
Hannah Sigala will be recognized.
During the past weekend, they played two five-set matches, downing Tennessee State before falling to Belmont. Both matches were of the back-and-forth variety, with the Eagles gaining the momentum last against TSU before the Bruins returned the favor on Saturday.
In the first set against Belmont, Morehead State may have played their best volleyball of the season. They scored the first three points of the set and then jumped out to an early 9-3 lead. Never allowing the Bruins back into the set, they continued to extend that lead until they won the set, 25-13. They hit an impressive.385.
"We'd love to be 2-0 (in OVC play) instead of 1-1, but that's better than being 0-2," said head coach
Jaime Gordon. "We had really good matches against two of our rivals. Against Tennessee State we were able to pull out a five-set win in front of a really good crowd. After that emotional match, I was really encouraged by the way we started against Belmont, but we just need to maintain that conisistency all of the way through. So, it was a little disappointing to lose against Belmont in five sets, but they are a really solid team. It shows that we are right there even with the adversity we've been facing, which is promising."
In the third set against Tennessee State, they made a switch to a 6-2 offense that consists of two setters - junior
Bailey Nichol and freshman
Jordan Jones. The mutliple options on offense proved beneficial for the Eagles and they primarily stayed with that lineup for the rest of the weekend.
"We have a lot of versatiltiy, not just in the numbers, but with what our players are capable of doing," said Gordon. "We have the ability to plug different players into different roles, that versatility is a unique quality that this team has."
On Saturday, their lone senior
Hannah Sigala will be recognized on Senior Day. The Liberty Township, Ohio-native was a Preseason All-OVC selection and as a junior she started all 31 matches, while leading the team with 100 total blocks and 310 kills. In the win over Tennessee State, she smacked a season-high 15 kills. During her freshman and sophomore seasons, she helped lead the Eagles to OVC Regular Season Titles and as a sophomore they advanced to their second ever NCAA Tournament.
Despite their early season struggles, which can be somewhat attributed to the multiple bouts of adversity that have faced, Gordon likes the way that his team is progressing and the goal is to get Sigala her third conference title in four years.
"The way that they've been working, the attitude that they have, is the reason that we are seeing the strides right now despite some of the other challenges that we have been facing," said Gordon. "Our young players are gaining more and more experience and I think we're gelling on the court. Hopefully that continues as we get through the meat of the OVC schedule."
Live stats for the match versus Eastern Kentucky will be available at
MSUEagles.com and Saturday's match against Austin Peay can be seen live on the OVC Digital Network.
