CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Western Illinois volleyball team held early leads in all three sets but ultimately loss 3-0 (27-29, 21-25, 20-25) to Southern Utah Saturday night (Oct. 22) inside Centrum Arena.
The Fighting Leathernecks (11-13, 3-10 Summit League) were up 16-8 in the first set, 12-9 in the second set and 10-9 in the third set. However, Southern Utah (8-16, 5-8 Summit League) used a 54-36 advantage in kills to take control of the match.
Senior Cait Egan had 10 kills on 31 attempts to lead the Leathernecks for the second straight night. Egan put down five kills on 11 attempts in the second set. She needs just 13 more kills to move past Western Illinois Hall of Famer Diane Ellefritz (1987-91) into eighth place on the program's all-time list. Egan also collected three block assists and leads the squad with 63 total blocks this season.
Sophomore Heather Smith recorded her first start since Sept. 16 and put down nine kills on 26 attempts. Smith had four kills on just eight attempts in the third set. She owns a .313 attack percentage this season with 28 kills on 67 attempts.
Sophomore Sarah Fetter had 29 assists, eight digs and three kills on seven attempts. Fetter also collected three block assists for the second consecutive match.
Junior Bridget Murphy compiled a match-high 16 digs and rose two spots in the Western Illinois record book in the process. She passed Rachel Horvat (1989-93) and Ellen Miller (2007-10) to move into seventh place all-time in program history with 1,141 career digs.
Freshman Molly Murphy recorded her third straight double-digit effort with 10 digs. She also collected her conference-leading 35th service ace of the season in the second set.
Freshman Ann Miller compiled 10 digs while fellow freshman Mallory Gibson collected three block assists. Miller ranks second on the squad with 294 digs this season while Gibson has eleven total blocks over the last three matches.
Western Illinois returns to Macomb next weekend for the final homestand of the 2011 season. The Fighting Leathernecks play host to South Dakota Friday (Oct. 28) and UMKC Saturday (Oct. 29). Both matches are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. CT inside Brophy Hall.
