BOX SCORE
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Traveling into Big 12 country, Morehead State volleyball fought hard and put up numerous match-highs in the opener of the Kansas Volleyball Invitational before succumbing to host Kansas. The Eagles (5-2) dropped in straight sets to the Jayhawks (4-2) by scores of 25-18, 25-21, and 25-18.
Reaching double-digit kills for the 19th straight match and the seventh time this season, junior outside hitter
Olivia Lohmeier led Morehead State with a match-high 14 kills. Behind Lohmeier on the stat sheet were sophomore middle blockers
Hannah Keating and
Mia Swearingen who finished with eight and seven kills, respectively. Keating recorded her eight kills on 13 swings, committing just two errors to swing a match-best .462.
Running the offense, Morehead State's setters, redshirt junior
Chandler Clark and freshman
Bridget Bessler Morehead State to 34 assists on 37 team kills. Bessler dished out 22 assists in two sets while Clark added nine in a lone set.
Lohmeier and Keating were not the only Eagles to put up match-bests Thursday night as sophomore libero
Allison Whitten dug up a match-high 19 balls. Whitten's 19 digs match a season-high total while giving her 27 straight matches registering 10 or more digs. Overall, Morehead State dug up 48 total balls with Bessler finishing behind Whitten on the box score, scooping up a career-best seven balls.
For the sixth time this season, Morehead State led the way in the service game, landing five service aces on the night. Sophomore defensive specialist
Olivia Montelisciani tallied four of the five winners for the Eagles, extending her Ohio Valley Conference-leading aces total to 16.
On the other side of the net, Kansas stymied the Morehead State attack, forcing the Eagles into 15.0 blocks in the match. Middle blocker Zoe Hill led the Jayhawk block, turning away eight total shots. She also added a Kansas-high 10 kills, nearly tallying a double-double. Setter Sara Nielsen notched a double-double for the Jayhawks, passing out 24 assists while adding 13 digs.
Morehead State returns to action at the Kansas Volleyball Invitational tomorrow afternoon. The Eagles face Syracuse Friday with first serve set for 5 p.m. ET.
