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BROOKINGS, S.D. - The Western Illinois volleyball team was held to a
.072 attack percentage and 27 kills in a 3-0 (13-25, 15-25, 18-25) loss
to conference foe South Dakota State Saturday
night at Frost Arena.
For the second consecutive night, a
Western opponent received great play from its middle hitters. SDSU
middle hitters Kaitlin Klingemann and Kelli Fiegen combined for 21
kills, a .513 attack percentage and 4.5 of SDSU's nine total
blocks. The Jackrabbits (11-12, 7-6 Summit League) posted 44 kills and a
.314 attack percentage against the Fighting Leathernecks (6-16, 2-11
Summit League).
"We couldn't get any momentum going tonight," said
Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay.
"Despite great energy from Allison Gilbert, Cait Egan and Jessie Lantz,
SDSU did a very good job of keeping us off balance. They prevented us from finding
any rhythm offensively."
Junior Allison Gilbert had a team-high eight
kills on 20 attempts to lead Western offensively for the ninth time this
season. Fellow junior Cait Egan posted five kills in the second set and
finished with six on 29 attempts.
Freshman Heather Smith had
20 assists and also collected her 19th service ace of the season, which
ranks second on the squad. Senior Ellen Miller had a team-high 13
digs to move into ninth place all-time in program history. Miller, who
has posted six straight double-digit dig performances, now owns 1,020
digs in her career.
Sophomore Katie Hosteng had three kills and
four total blocks, which is her highest output since tying a career-high with eight blocks against IPFW (Sept. 17). In addition,
Megan Toczek and Brooke Stittleburg both recorded two block assists as
Western finished with six total blocks.
In the first set, a
Megan Toczek kill trimmed the SDSU lead to 6-5 before the Jackrabbits
went on an 8-0 run highlighted by two combined blocks from Kelli Fiegen
and Kelly Herrmann. SDSU finished the set with 12 kills, four blocks and
two aces in a 25-13 win. Gilbert, Toczek and Hosteng all recorded two
kills in the opening frame.
SDSU came out firing on all cylinders
in the second set as the Jackrabbits posted 17 kills, hit .342 and led
all the way in a 25-15 victory. Egan had five kills on 14 attempts in
the second set and Gilbert chipped in three kills on six attempts.
In
the third set, Western collected three total blocks early on, including
a pair from Stittleburg and Toczek, and the Leathernecks forced a SDSU
timeout up 6-2. Stittleburg aced the Jackrabbits to extend the Western
lead to 9-7, but SDSU went on a 3-0 run to force a Leatherneck timeout.
Hosteng's fourth block of the night trimmed the Jackrabbit lead to 17-15
and a SDSU attack error made it 18-17. However, that was the closest
Western would get as SDSU used a 3-0 run to end the match with a 25-18
win.
Junior Krissy Bergquist came off the bench to post three
kills and a .750 attack percentage in the final stanza, and Stittleburg
chipped in three kills on seven attempts. Four of Western's six total
blocks came in the third set.
Western Illinois closes out its
home conference schedule next weekend as the Fighting Leathernecks host
Oral Roberts Friday (Oct. 29) and
Centenary Saturday (Oct. 30). Both matches are
scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
