Colonels start conference play, get second win

Embarking on a two-city, two-day road trip opening up Ohio Valley Conference play, the Eastern volleyball team fell three sets to two last Friday evening to Southeast Missouri State, then bounced back, winning all three sets in its match against Eastern Illinois on Saturday. The win snapped a seven-match losing streak for the Colonels."That's the great thing we did this weekend," head coach Lori Duncan said. "We stayed competitive the entire time."

Two players registered 17 or more kills, and eight players finished with two or more digs. Six players had at least one assist against SEMO.

Junior Lindsey Loescher led Eastern with 19 kills, nine digs and three block assists. Senior Amanda Wilson finished with 17 kills and four block assists. Freshman Jill Henneman totaled a career-best 36 assists.

After Southeast Missouri won the first point of the match, the Colonels rolled off six straight points and never trailed the rest of the first set. After a 5-0 run, including kills by Loescher and Wilson and an ace from sophomore Kelsey Rose, the Colonels doubled their lead to 20-10. The Redhawks answered with a 14-4 run that tied up the set. The run included six straight SEMO points, four of which came off of Eastern errors. Redhawk sophomore Claire Keaton tied the set at 24-24 and again at 25-25. Following Keaton's last kill, back-to-back kills by Wilson ended the first set in favor of the Colonels.

Eastern trailed only once in the second set. After SEMO tied the set at 17-17, the Colonels won five of the next seven points to gain a little breathing room. A Redhawk attack error gave EKU set point at 24-20. Two plays later, freshman Hannah Groudle gave Eastern a 2-0 lead with a kill to end the set.

The Colonels' momentum was lost after intermission as the Redhawks came out and won the next three sets.

Saturday against Eastern Illinois, Loescher once again led the way for the Colonels, registering 17 kills. Sophomore Abby O'Connor added 18 digs, while Henneman tied the career-best she posted the night before with 36 assists.

The first set was close throughout, as the two teams were tied 18 times. Loescher's kill gave Eastern a one-point lead 24-23, but the Panthers tied it up. Wilson later sealed the first-set victory with a kill.

It appeared the second set would be as close as the first, but Eastern pulled away. After the first 14 points, the set was tied for the fifth time at 7-7. The Colonels used a 5-1 run to take control of the set and build a 17-11 lead. Wilson had a pair of kills, and junior Nicole Mulhall had an ace during the run. An ace by O'Connor extended Eastern's lead to nine.

Eastern Illinois committed a service error, making the score 24-15. A few plays later, Groudle secured the set victory with a kill.

The Colonels won the third and final set, capitalizing on EIU errors and snapping their skid.

At McBrayer Arena for the first time this season Tuesday night, Eastern came out strong against conference foe Tennessee State and won the first set 25-11, but cooled off quickly.

In each of the next three sets, the Colonels got behind early and never recovered, losing them 25-19, 25-11, and 25-15.

"They pushed, but we didn't push back in games two, three, and four," Duncan said. "They came out and put points on the board right off the bat, but we didn't respond."

Eastern again hits the road this Friday and Saturday against Murray State and Tennessee-Martin.

Duncan said that the team has to come back to practice, bounce back, and capitalize on good opportunities that present themselves.

"We've got to win at home and when we're on the road," Duncan said. "We've got to steal a couple.