MOREHEAD, Ky. – For the first time since 2011, Morehead State volleyball completed a season sweep of in-state rival Murray State with both the 2011 and 2020-21 series resulting in a pair of straight-set sweeps.
The Eagles completed its third-consecutive straight-set sweep of the season, defeating the Racers Sunday behind scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-16 after opening the series Saturday using scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-12.
With four digs in the first set of Sunday's match, junior libero
Allison Whitten became the 27th member of the 1,000-Dig Club at Morehead State, becoming the second Eagle to join a 1,000-Club in as many weeks. She paced the Eagles' backline with 15 of the team's 52 digs, leading another stellar defensive effort that saw Morehead State out-dig Murray State 52-43 and out-block the Racers 8-3.
The 2020-21 season also marks the second consecutive year, Morehead State has had four players hold membership to a 1,000-Club with
Bridget Bessler (assists), Lohmeier (kills),
Lauren Rokey (kills), and Whitten (digs) each holding membership, joining Bessler,
Chandler Clark (assists), Lohmeier, and
Danielle McCarson (digs) in accomplishing the feat the past two seasons.
The season also marks the first since 2008 that has featured multiple members of the 1,000-Kill Club, a member of the 1,000-Dig Club, and a member of the 1,000-Assist Club.
Leading Morehead State offensively, were its two current members of the 1,000-Kill Club, Lohmeier and Rokey, who recorded 16 and 13 kills, respectively, being the only attackers in the match to surpass 10 kills. The double-figure kill outputs from the duo extended their streak of 16 and 8 games, respectively, with double-digit kills.
After committing three early attack errors, Lohmeier finished the match with 15 consecutive kills without an additional error, hitting .419. Redshirt freshman middle blocker
McKenzee Wagener led the Eagles in hitting efficiency, posting a .600 clip (six kills, zero errors, 10 attempts).
Orchestrating the team's offense, Bessler passed out 39 of the team's 43 assists, posting 13.0 assists per set. Sunday's match marked the third straight match in which she's accrued 12 or more assists per set.
Leading the Eagles' blocking effort, junior middle blocker
Mia Swearingen, Lohmeier, and Wagener each collected four block assists apiece, the second consecutive match the trio has recorded four or more block assists.
Morehead State returns next week for a two-game series with Austin Peay. The first of the two matches begins Sunday at 7 p.m. ET before the series concludes Monday at 3 p.m.
