MACOMB, Ill. ? Sophomore Erin Frick paced the Western Illinois volleyball team with a career-best 17 kills, while recording a season-high .519 (17k-3e-27ta) hitting percentage in its 3-1 (29-31, 25-30, 30-22, 26-30) loss to South Dakota State.

“I think tonight we did well half the time tonight,” said head coach Kym McKay. “The match came down to us not doing the small things that we need to accomplish. Being down 0-2 to a school like South Dakota is very hard to come back from.”

Game one was tight until the Westerwinds (14-13, 10-4 The Summit League) pulled ahead of the Jackrabbits (20-8, 11-3 The Summit League) 13-9 with a three-point run. SDSU fought back and tied the game at 16. The teams then battled for the lead for the remainder of the game, with no team leading by more than two points. The Jackrabbits earned the extra-point victory when they started a three-point run down 28-29 with a service ace by Rachel Dahl.

The second game started out similar to the first with both teams fighting for more than a two-point advantage. SDSU used an attack error by senior Amy Sauerwein with the scored tied at 12 to start a seven-point run to take the final lead of the game.

The Jackrabbits then came out from the break and started out game three with a 10-4 advantage before the Westerwinds fought back to tie the game at 21. Western started a seven point run down 19-21 to earn the victory. Senior Ashley Baker finished the game with four-straight serves, including two consecutive service aces.

Western took its momentum into the start of the final game by jumping out to an early 6-1 lead. The Jackrabbits then slowly pulled back into the game before tying it at 23. SDSU took the final lead of the match one point later on a kill by Amy Anderson.

The loss for the Westerwinds marked the first time this season that they recorded a higher hitting percentage (.233 to .214) than their opponents and didn't earn a victory. One of the keys to the Jackrabbits victory was their tough serving as they tallied 13 service aces to Western's five.

“They served aggressively,” said McKay. ?They have some nice floaters and they look for a lot of sidelines. But our serve receive was not where it needed to be. When you look at all the other areas of the match tonight and take out the reception errors it is even.”

The night marked the final home performances for three members of the Westerwinds roster. Seniors Sauerwein, Baker, and Michelle Donnelly were honored prior to the start of the match for their contributions to the Western volleyball program.

“We are still in a good position in the conference right now,” added McKay. “We are still in the mix and we have two matches left that we have to stay focused for. We know what we need to work on in the next week.”

Western hits the road for the final weekend of conference play with matches against IPFW, Oakland, and non-conference Illinois-Chicago. The Westerwinds are in Fort Wayne, Ind., Friday, November 9 at 6 p.m. before heading to Rochester, Mich., Saturday, November 10 for a 4 p.m. match and over to Chicago for a 3 p.m. match, Sunday, November 11.

Notes: Donnelly recorded 10 total blocks for the second-straight match...Western saw double-digit kill performances from Frick (17), Baker (14), Monique Houston (13), and Donnelly (11).