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Play-By-Play
MACOMB - Junior Brooke Stittleburg collected her
second consecutive double-double (15 kills, 13 digs) and junior Cait Egan put
down a season-high 16 kills but the Fighting Leathernecks (5-11, 2-6 Summit League)
gave up a season-high 12 service aces in a 3-2 loss (25-22, 20-25, 23-25,
26-24, 12-15) to South Dakota State Friday night at Brophy Hall.
Down 2-1, the Leathernecks won a tight fourth set
that featured three lead changes. Western Illinois rallied to tie the final
stanza three different times, but SDSU pulled away with a 5-0 run late to
capture the set and match victory.
Senior setter Ellen Miller had a season-high 47
assists and Western Illinois recorded 60 kills, but South Dakota State (8-9, 4-4
Summit League) was strong from the service line and received a clutch performance
from middle hitter Kelli Fiegen, who had a game-high 17 kills with a .593
attack percentage.
"Tonight's match was tight throughout and we did a good job of finding ways to score points when our ball control was not the best," Western Illinois head coach Kym McKay
said. "It's frustrating to lose another five-set match at home, but we had a lot of great moments tonight and we will need to put it all together tomorrow night against North Dakota State."
The Leathernecks came out strong with 14 kills in the
first set and eventually won a back-and-forth battle with the Jackrabbits,
25-22. The set featured seven ties and four lead changes. IUPUI outhit Western
.281-.024 in a 25-20 second set victory and used four total blocks and four
service aces to win the third set, 25-23.
Egan and Allison Gilbert combined for nine kills and
Western collected three total blocks in a 26-24 fourth set victory. The
Leathernecks held a 14-10 lead in the set after a kill by Stittleburg and held
off the Jackrabbits to force a fifth set. Both teams hit .409 in the final
stanza but Fiegen had four kills on five attempts, including the match-winner.
Egan posted a team-high .438 attack percentage and added
two service aces to raise her team-leading total to 16 on the season. Gilbert
had 11 kills for her 14th double-digit performance this season and
sophomore Katie Hosteng added nine kills.
Sophomore
Bridget Murphy was stellar defensively as she had a season-high 28 digs and
collected a team-high three service aces. Murphy, who was one dig off her
career-high set against IUPUI on Nov 14, 2009, owns a
team-high 207 digs this season.
Western Illinois is back in action tomorrow night as the Fighting Leathernecks host
league-leader North Dakota State at 7 p.m. inside Brophy Hall.
