Charleston, Ill. – A long wait to return to the court following delays and postponements to the 2020 season didn't deter Morehead State volleyball's
Lauren Rokey from reaching a major career milestone, achieving the milestone within the first two sets of the match.
In the season's opening match—one contested in her home state—the senior Eureka, Ill. native reeled off four consecutive kills spanning the first and second sets to record her 1,000th career kill. Behind 10 terminations in the match, she's recorded 1,006 in her career, becoming the 21st player in program history to join the 1,000 kill club.
In addition to Rokey's milestone, Morehead State picked up a victory in the season's opening match, downing Eastern Illinois in four sets behind scores of 25-21, 18-25, 25-18, and 25-16.
Joining Rokey with a double-digit kill total was senior
Olivia Lohmeier who posted a team-best 13 kills Sunday as Morehead State tallied 39 total terminations in the match. In total, nine Eagles saw themselves record a kill, including freshman
Irene Wogenstahl who recorded her first career kill in her first collegiate set.
Of Morehead State's 39 kills, 36 featured an assist with sophomore
Bridget Bessler passing out a team-high 30. Junior
Olivia Montelisciani added three assists on the afternoon while redshirt junior
Taylor Hodges passed out two helpers and junior
Hannah Keating tied a career-high with her lone assist.
Defensively, junior
Allison Whitten led all players with 19 digs, digging up eight more balls than the next closest player. As a team, Morehead State ended the match with 48 total digs, nearly adding two more players with 10 or more digs as Bessler neared a double-double with eight digs while Montelisciani added seven.
In addition to her 19 digs, Whitten tied a career-high with five service aces, landing four as part of 11 consecutive serves in the match's final set, including three consecutive near the end of her service run. Overall, the Eagles finished with seven service aces.
The season's first match also saw three Eagles make their Morehead State debut as freshman
Brenna Bommer, redshirt freshman McKenzee Wagner, and Wogenstahl saw their first collegiate action.
Morehead State and Eastern Illinois return to the court for the second of the teams' two meetings Monday afternoon. First serve is set for 4 p.m. ET and is slated to air on ESPN+.
