Morehead, Ky.-- The Morehead State volleyball team opened the weekend with a three sets to one win over Western Illinois Friday in the Meeks Family Fieldhouse in Evansville, Ind.
The final set scores were: (25-15), (17-25), (25-20), (25-19). The match did not count in the Ohio Valley Conference standings even though the Leathernecks are members alongside MSU. The Eagles do not play WIU during the conference season in 2025.
Morehead State (4-3) was led by the outside tandem of
M.E. Hargan and
Hollan Everett. Hargan led the way with a season-high tying 22 kills while hitting a sizzling .395. She also added 12 digs for her 23
rd career double-double. Everett slammed 14 kills and hit .211.
Sydney Sennett notched her 12
th career double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs.
The Eagles got out to hot start with a 6-0 run to begin the match highlighted by two aces from junior libero
Courtney Fitzgerald. Hargan added another two aces as MSU held a 4-0 advantage from the service line. The Eagles out-hit the Leathernecks with a .229 efficiency to .091 for WIU.
It was Western Illinois (1-6) getting off to a fast start in the second set. The Leathernecks went on an early four-point run to take a 4-1 lead. WIU used two three-point runs to expand their lead to 13-5 and cruised to a 25-17 set win. The Leathernecks hit .321 in the frame, and out-blocked the Eagles 5-1 in the set.
The third set was closely contested. WIU went on a three-point run to go ahead 10-7 and took a 15-14 lead into the set break. The Eagles went on a 5-1 run to take a 19-16 lead and closed out the set 25-20. The Eagles attack hit .235 in the set and was led by Hargan's six kills.
The final set was again tight early. The teams then took turns making scoring runs. MSU used a four-point run to take a 12-7 lead. WIU answered with a three-point run of their own to cut the lead to two. The Eagles responded with another four-run, only to be answered by a WIU four-point run to make the score 16-14. The Leathernecks made another three-point run to cut the lead to 21-19 before Morehead State closed out the match with their third four-point run of the frame.
Western Illinois was led by Keyana Cruse with 11 kills and 10 digs.
The Eagles get a brief respite and return to play this afternoon when they square off with UAB. First serve is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
NOTABLE
- Morehead State slugged 53 kills with a .241 hitting percentage, and posted 16 kills with a sharp .353 efficiency. Western Illinois recorded 37 kills with a .145 attack percentage.
- Service Aces were even with seven apiece. Hargan, Fitzgerald and Amelia Nott registered two aces each. WIU's Grace Kremer led with four in the match.
- WIU had an 8-7 advantage in blocks. Leatherneck Grace Kremer had six total blocks, including one block solo.
- MSU had a 63-50 advantage in digs. Fitzgerald notched match honors with 15. Along with Hargan's 12, Kennedy Tinch and Sennett each finished with 10.
- Amelia Nott finished with six kills and hit .455 for the match. She added two blocks and five digs.
