Leathernecks sweep Centenary on Senior Night

MACOMB, Ill. - Armed with a balanced offensive attack and a strong blocking game, the Western Illinois volleyball team swept (25-14, 25-22, 25-16) conference foe Centenary Saturday night at Brophy Hall.

Western (7-17, 3-12 Summit League) hit .435 in the first set and finished the match with a .286 attack percentage, the third-highest mark this season. The Fighting Leathernecks are undefeated (6-0) this season when hitting over .200.

"We handled our side extremely well tonight," Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay said. "There was great chemistry amongst the girls in the first set and we executed all of our plays. We made the necessary adjustments to win a tight second set, and had great flow and team focus in the third set."

Juniors Allison Gilbert and Cait Egan paced Western Illinois offensively with seven kills apiece. Six Leathernecks (Krissy Bergquist, Meghan Ross, Katie Hosteng, Megan Toczek, Gilbert and Egan) had at least five kills and four players (Ross, Toczek, Gilbert and Egan) had an attack percentage over .300.

Defensively, Western collected a season-high six solo blocks and finished with eight total blocks as a team. Sophomore Katie Hosteng had four blocks (two solo, two assists) for the second consecutive match, and junior Cait Egan added three (one solo, two assists) of her own.

Senior Ellen Miller, who was honored in a ceremony prior to her final home conference match, had a team-high 14 digs for her eighth straight double-digit outing. The Evergreen Park, Ill. native now leads the squad with 288 digs this season and needs 20 more digs to move into eighth place all-time in program history.

"We had a great time honoring Ellen today,” McKay added. “She has meant so much to this program and we will certainly miss her. She is a coach's dream and has spoiled me with her work ethic and consistency over the last four years.”

At the service line, Western had eight aces for the second consecutive matchup with Centenary (Sept. 10). Freshman Meghan Ross, who chipped in 10 digs, collected a career-high four aces and junior Krissy Bergquist matched her career high with two aces.

For the second consecutive night, Western utilized two setters as junior Alyssa Holum (17 assists) and freshman Heather Smith (15 assists) combined for 32 assists. Smith leads the Leathernecks with 545 assists this season, and Holum has doubled her season total over the last two matches.

Western posted 12 kills, four blocks and a .435 attack percentage in a commanding 25-14 first set victory. Western trailed 18-14 in the second set, but used a 7-0 run with Meghan Ross serving to take a 21-18 lead. The Fighting Leathernecks eventually captured a 25-22 victory in the set, which featured seven ties and four lead changes. Tied 16-16 in the final stanza, Western gained the serve back following a Centenary attack error. With Bergquist serving, Western subsequently went on an 8-0 run to secure the sweep with a 25-16 third set victory.

Western Illinois is back in action Monday night at 7 p.m. as the Fighting Leathernecks play a non-conference match at in-state rival Chicago State. Western swept Chicago State in the Leathernecks' 2010 home opener on Sept. 14.

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