Eagle Volleyball Set to Face Eastern Illinois in Tough Road Test

SCHEDULE PAGE (LINKS TO LIVE STATS & VIDEO)

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Following its first conference win last Saturday, the Morehead State volleyball team is back on the road this week, as the Eagles head to Charleston, Ill., for two matches at Eastern Illinois. 

Rather than a typical Friday-Saturday match schedule, the Eagles and Panthers are set to play on Thursday (7:00 PM) & Friday (5:00 PM). Both matches will air live on ESPN+, with live stats available as well. 

2023 RECORDS & OVC STANDING

• Morehead State (8-8, 1-3 OVC) T-8th
• Eastern Illinois (14-1, 4-0 OVC) 1st

SERIES HISTORY & PREVIOUS MEETING

• Morehead State is 25-19 vs. Eastern Illinois in program history (11-8 in Charleston), and have won the last five meetings. 
• The Eagles won both matches in Charleston the last time the two teams met there in the Spring 2021 season.
• In 2022, Morehead State swept the Panthers 3-0 (25-20, 32-20, 29-27) in the first match, and won the second match 3-1 (31-33, 29-27, 25-21, 25-22). 

NOTABLE

• Defensively, Morehead State has been phenomenal in Head Coach Kyrsten Becker-McBride's first year at the helm of the program. The Eagles lead the conference in digs/set at 17.56, ranking third in Division I in the statistic, while also ranking third in the conference in blocks/set at 2.05. 
• That defensive prowess has held opponents to a mere .169 hitting percentage in 2023 -- good for second in the conference and 50th in the country.
• Peighton Isley, the Eagles' libero, ranks 11th in the nation and third in the OVC in digs/set at 5.30. This season, the junior has posted double digit digs in all but one match, and has at least 20 digs in nine matches, with her season-high of 31 vs. Northern Kentucky included. 
• Irene Wogenstahl (55.0) and Amelia Nott (46.0) lead the team in blocks, with Wogenstahl ranking ninth in the conference in total blocks and first in block solos (18). 
• Offensively, Morehead State is 33rd in the nation in kills/set, averaging 13.61 per. 
• The Eagles registered 81 kills last Friday vs. Western Illinois, the highest total since Oct. 15, 2016 vs. Eastern Illinois (81). 
• Maycie Welborn leads MSU in nearly every offensive category, including points (200.5), points/set (3.52), kills (179), and kills/set (3.14). She ranks in the OVC's top 10 in all of those statistics besides points, where she is 11th. 
• M.E. Hargan leads the team in double-doubles this season, and posted a season-high 20 kills and a career-high 17 digs on Friday vs. WIU. She has six double-doubles on the year. 
• Brenna Bommer leads the team in assists this season with 517 (9.57/set -- third in OVC). She has five double-doubles in 2023, and nearly posted a triple-double vs. SEMO (35 assists, 11 digs, 7 kills).
• Freshman defensive specialist Courtney Fitzgerald had a career-best 17 digs vs. Western Illinois on Friday night, and has five double-digit dig performances this season.