Volleyball Swept by Eagles, 3-0
Molly Davis sees her consecutive double-digit dig matches halted at 35-straight
MOREHEAD, Ky. (Saturday, October 3, 2009) – The Redhawks concluded a rough Ohio Valley Conference road swing with a 3-0 (21-25, 13-25, 16-25) loss to Morehead State in Wetherby Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The loss was the Redhawks second-straight as they fall to 6-10 and 3-4 in OVC play.
The potent Redhawks offense was shutdown as they were held to a season low 50 points in three sets and just a .044 attack percentage. It was the second-straight match the Redhawks failed to win a set as they were swept in three by Eastern Kentucky on Friday night.
The Redhawks just led once in the entire match and that came in the final set when they led 2-1 to start.
The Redhawks showed life in the opening set as they rallied from an early deficit to keep within striking distance. After tying the set at nine-all the closest the Redhawks would get to the Eagles (12-5, 5-1 OVC) would be 23-21, but the Eagles would record two-straight points including a set-ending service ace by Liz Schuler.
Where the Redhawks showed life in the first set, they looked dead in the second as they recorded just five total kills and recorded their lowest point total in a set this season.
After tying the set at four-all the Eagles responded with a 16-5 run to put distance between the teams and used a 5-1 run to close out the set.
20 of the Eagles 25 points came on kills and they committed just five attack errors for a .333 attack percentage. The Redhawks hit just .061 in the second set.
In the third and deciding set the Redhawks again failed to produce any offense as they finished the set with a .030 attack percentage. After tying the set at eight-all the Eagles again went on a momentum-crushing run. A 15-2 run all but finished the Redhawks despite a 5-0 run of their own late in the set.
The Redhawks recorded a season-low 23 kills in the match and committed 18 attack errors. The Eagles finished with an attack percentage of .289 and finished with 50 kills.
The Redhawks didn’t have a single player in double digits in kills for just the fourth time this season. Emily Hughes (St. Benedict/Memphis, Tenn.),Karleigh DeLong (Santiago/Corona, Calif.), Amanda Rickhoff(Southwestern Illinois College/Bartelso, Ill.) and Emily Maher(Marcus/Flower Mound, Texas) each tied for the team-lead with five kills.
Maher led all players in scoring with nine points. She finished with a career and team-high two service aces and tied a career-high with four block assists.
For the first time in six matches Kelly Benacka (Jacobs/Algonquin, Ill.) did not record a double-double as she finished with a team-high 16 assists and tied for the team lead with nine digs.
Senior Molly Davis (Burris/Muncie, Ind.) saw her streak end as well as she failed to finish in double-digit digs for the first time in 35 matches. She would finish the match with eight digs.
The Eagles were led by Preseason First Team All-OVC selection Kaitlin Craven who finished with a double-double with 12 kills and a match-best 21 digs. Ellie Roberson led all players with 16 kills and a .406 attack percentage. Kirstie Brangers led all players with 37 assists and finished with a .667 attack percentage.
The Redhawks return to the friendly confines of Houck Stadium for their next five matches starting with Jacksonville State on Friday, October 9. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
