SHREVEPORT, La. ? Senior
Michelle Donnelly lead a well-rounded attack as the Western Illinois volleyball team swept past Centenary, 3-0 (30-11, 30-14, 30-13). The Bloomington, Ill., native garnered eight kills while adding a season-high .500 (8k-0e-16ta) hitting percentage and a career-high two service aces.
“Our goal was to play efficiently and to make sure that we were taking big swings and good shots,” said head coach Kym McKay. “Defensively we wanted to keep the ball off the floor. Overall we did what we wanted to do individually and as a team.”
The Westerwinds (11-12, 8-3 The Summit League) opened up game one with a five-point run with junior
Sarah Trimpe at the service line. The Ladies (1-24, 0-11 The Summit League) recorded their first point at 5-1, but could not get any closer during the rest of the game.
Western opened up game two with a 6-0 run before Centenary fought back to close the gap to two points at 4-6 with Danielle Bochat at the service line. Bochat started her four-straight serves with two service aces and Trimpe and sophomore
Erin Frick ended it with a block. The Westerwinds then took over and did not allow the Ladies to get any closer the rest of the game.
Game three saw more of the same, as Western jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and didn't allow Centenary to get closer than four points the rest of the game. Freshman
Ellen Miller started the final game with eight serves and then ended the match with a series of nine serves. The Chicago, Ill., native tallied three service aces during the runs.
The Westerwinds came out strong defensively against the Ladies, holding them to a -.047 (21k-27e-127ta) hitting percentage while recording a season high .378 (47k-5e-111ta) of their own. Western also out-blocked Centenary six to two.
“The good thing about our strong defensive numbers tonight is that the numbers were strong in all the defensive columns,” said McKay. “ Our blockers were very aggressive, had a presence at the net and were putting up good blocks on every play that forced Centenary into a lot of errors. Our back row was also moving all across the floor and picking up digs. It was exciting to see our team play a well-rounded defensive game.”
The Westerwinds also saw strong offensive performances by many players. Donnelly was among four players to record a team-high eight kills, with sophomore
Emily Harrison, senior
Amy Sauerwein, and
Monique Houston added the other top performances. Frick also added seven kills and senior
Ashley Baker tallied five.
Western heads to Tulsa, Okla., for a Saturday, October 27 match against league leading Oral Roberts at 6 p.m.
Notes: Trimpe recorded her 13th double-double of the season...Western recorded a hitting percentage over. 300 for the fourth time this season and is now 4-0 in those matches...the team is also 9-0 when out-hitting its opponent...Harrison recorded a career-high.571 hitting percentage and a season-high two digs ...Miller recorded career-high's in the service aces (3) and digs (2) columns.
