MACOMB, Ill. - Fighting Leatherneck volleyball was dominant in a 3-0 victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Friday evening (Oct. 11) inside Brophy Hall. The Leathernecks improve to 8-11 on the season and 2-2 in league play, while the Jackrabbits fall to 2-15 overall and 0-4 in The Summit League.

“It was great to be home. I think we've really missed being at home. We've been on the road the past six weeks and we just wanted this tonight,” head coach April Hall said. “I think we needed it too, we've had some tough road losses we've had some great road wins too. It was just good to be back home and play in front of a great crowd. I think the crowd was really into it tonight and we thank them for that, that was awesome. They were here and they were into it the entire match.”

Western trailed just once in the opening set on their way to a 25-16 victory. Ann Miller notched seven kills in the set at a .538 clip. Molly Murphy was impressive defensively, recording 17 digs in the opening set for the Leathernecks.

The second started off back-and-forth, with the two teams tied up at 7-7 early on. The Leathernecks went on a four-point run however, jumping out to an 11-7 lead and causing the Jackrabbits to call a timeout. Following the timeout, Western was able to hold on to the lead and used another four-point run late to widen the gap and eventually take the set, 25-16. 

Western held off a Jackrabbit comeback attempt in the final set, winning 25-21 to take the match 3-0. Murphy recorded three service aces in four serves early on to give the Leathernecks a lead that would hold the entire set.  

Miller led the Purple & Gold with 19 kills and a .514 hitting percentage. Samantha Fournier recorded 13 kills for Western while Heather Smith added 11.

Sarah Fetter assisted on 44 kills for the Leathernecks, while also recording 11 digs. Murphy finished the match with 25 digs and four total service aces, while Miller (12) and Fournier (11) also notched double-digit digs.

“Ann was on fire tonight. We worked on a lot of different shots for her and she showed them all tonight. Sarah did a great job running the offense, really stuck to the game plan and put our hitters in great position to score, which is why Heather and Sam also got double digit kills, as well,” added Hall. “Molly, she had 17 digs in the first set alone, so I think she had phenomenal defensively and they stopped going to her the next two sets, but she just really put us in a good spot to be able to set up those hitters too. We were just in rhythm, everyone was working together, everyone was making sure we were talking to each other and being in a great place. 

Western will continue conference play this Sunday (Oct. 13) at home as they play host to the North Dakota State Bison. The match is slated to begin at 2 p.m. in Western Hall.

“Tomorrow we're just going to refocus and focus on our next game plan, have a light practice just to get some touches on the ball, and then really push forward into Sunday,” said Hall. “Knowing that we're home again and it's another great team coming in here on Sunday, we've got to do exactly what we did tonight but better.”