CARBONDALE, Ill. - Western Illinois setter
Sarah Trimpe had her sixth double-double of the season with a season-best 51 assists and 11 digs and freshman
Megan Toczek had her first career double-double with season-best 11 kills and 10 digs, but it wasn't enough as Southeast Missouri State rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Westerwinds in five sets (25-22, 26-24, 14-25, 24-26, 11-15).
"Megan did a good job in only her second start of the season," Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay said. "Her (Megan) and Mo (
Monique Houston) gave us six rotations of solid left side offense."
After defeating the Redhawks (2-3) in the first two sets, the Westerwinds (3-6) dropped the second two to enter set five. SEMO jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. Western came back from the five-point deficit to come within three at 7-10, but couldn't get a handle on the set as the Redhawks defeated the Westerwinds, 15-11.
In the first set of the day, Western and SEMO kept the score within one on several occasions with seven lead changes and 13 ties, with the final tie at 19-19. Western pulled away with the lead as Southeast Missouri State came within one at 23-22. A pair of kills by Toczek and
Monique Houston gave Western the 25-23 advantage. Trimpe put up 12 assists in the set while
Erin Frick led in kills with a .286 hitting percentage (5k, 1e, 14ta).
Cait Egan and Frick also tallied in a block solo each, contributing to the Westerwinds' five team blocks.
In a tight race to the second-set win, the teams tied the score 19 times with the final tie at 24-24 as Western defeated SEMO, 26-24. The Westerwinds out-hit the Redhawks with a .371 team percentage to SEMO's .237.
Emily Harrison led the set with five kills while Frick and Houston each tallied four.
Western looked to close out the match in the third set, but SEMO took off from an 11-11 tie on a 12-point run for a 23-11 lead. Houston put a stop to the run with her sixth kill of the set (seven total), but Southeast Missouri State continued with the lead for a 25-14 win.
Coming back from a 2-0 set deficit, the Redhawks forced the Westerwinds into set five as they took a 26-24 victory in set four. Western extended the lead to three points at 21-18, but errors proved costly as Western committed five more than SEMO who tied the set at 24-24 before closing out the win. Western out-killed SEMO 14-9 with Frick earning over one third of the Westerwinds' kills (five).
Frick and Houston each set season-bests in the kill category with 15 and 19 respectively. Harrison joined the pair in the double digits with 10 kills. Double-digit digs came from leader
Elise Crnjak (season-best 37),
Ellen Miller (16),
Krissy Bergquist (11) and
Lindsay Muehlbauer (10).
The Westerwinds face Arkansas State in their final match of the Saluki Invitational, Saturday at 5 p.m.
