CHARLESTON, Ill. – After waiting months for its first win of the 2020-21 season, Morehead State volleyball wasted no time in earning a second, completing the season sweep of Eastern Illinois behind a straight-set sweep Monday afternoon.
Taking the match with scores of 25-16, 25-22, and 25-23, Morehead State improves to 2-0 on the season while Eastern Illinois drops to 0-2.
Leading the Eagles on the afternoon were the two active members of its 1,000 Kill Club, seniors
Olivia Lohmeier and
Lauren Rokey, who each slammed home a match-high 13 kills. The duo exits the weekend with a combined 2,268 terminations with Lohmeier ranking 13th in program history with 1,249 kills and Rokey ranking 21st with 1,019.
Nearing double-digit kills totals, redshirt senior
Liz Allen and redshirt freshman
McKenzee Wagener each added seven kills with junior
Mia Swearingen and sophomore
Bridget Bessler added three and one kills, respectively. For Wagner, the first of her seven terminations marked her first career kill, recording it in just her second career match.
Morehead State also found its rhythm offensively Monday, improving its team hitting percentage 121 points from Sunday's season-opener. A pair of Eagles, Lohmeier and Wagner, ended the match with percentages over .300, hitting .500 (13 kills-2 errors-22 attacks) and .375 (7-1-16), respectively.
Directing the offense, Bessler passed out 39 assists in the match, leading the Eagles who recorded an assist on all but one kill Monday.
Junior
Allison Whitten paced all back row players in the match as she strives for her 1,000 career dig, leading the match by scooping up 12 balls. Exiting the opening series, she needs just 14 digs to become the 27th member of the 1,000 Dig Club at Morehead State.
Nearly joining Whitten with double-figure digs was redshirt junior
Taylor Hodges who concluded the match with nine digs while sophomore
Andrea Grimes finished one scoop shy of tying her career-high, digging six balls.
Morehead State also continued to press serve receive, landing six service aces as six different Eagles recorded an ace. The Eagles also severely diminished Eastern Illinois' ace total from the season opener, only surrendering two winners in Monday's match after seeing the Panthers land nine Sunday.
The Eagles also had a pair of blockers tally two or more total blocks, led by Wagener who collected three block assists. Swearingen joined Wagener in leading the team's effort at the net, recording a solo block and a block assist.
For the first time in the 2020-21 season, Morehead State is slated for action at Johnson Arena, returning from its season-opening road trip to host in-state rival Murray State. The season series with the Racers commences Saturday and Sunday with both matches featuring a first serve time of 2 p.m. ET.
