MACOMB, Ill. - The Western Illinois volleyball team collected its first Summit League win of the season Friday (Oct. 3) night in impressive fashion, sweeping the Fort Wayne Mastodons, 3-0. The victory moves the Leathernecks to 3-13 overall (1-2 Summit League) on the season while Fort Wayne drops to 7-9 (1-1).

"I just think we needed a win. It was nothing particular about this match because we are super excited about every conference match and want to beat everybody," said head coach April Hall. "This team has been through so much, and has had so much adversity this year. They realized that they needed to stop focusing on the adversity and start focusing on us. They did that tonight, and succeeded, and it felt great."

The Leathernecks claimed the first set, but it wasn't easy. Trailing 20-17, the Purple and Gold went on a 7-0 run, thanks largely to the play of junior outside hitter Peyton Crosser. During the run, Crosser had five kills, including four consecutive points. At the end of the run Western held a 24-20 advantage, but Fort Wayne stormed back to tie the match at 24-all. The two teams would trade points and Fort Wayne would have a set point at 27-26, but a Mastodon hitting error would tie things up at 27. Samantha Fournier had a kill out of the back row to give the Leathernecks set point, and a Fort Wayne hitting error would seal the 29-27 set victory.
 
The second set would almost mirror the first set, as extra points were needed to determine the winner. Crosser got a 3-0 Leatherneck run started with a kill from the outside, and consecutive hitting errors by the Mastodons gave Western a 23-22 lead. From there the teams would once again trade points deep into the set. A hitting error by Fort Wayne gave the Leathernecks a 27-26 lead and a kill from Crosser ended the set. The 28-26 victory gave Western a 2-0 lead heading into intermission.
 
In the third and final set, the Leathernecks blew Fort Wayne out of the building with a 25-14 victory. The Leatherneck offense was perfect, committing no errors, while tallying 12 kills. Western Illinois hit at a .400 clip while holding the Mastodons to a .075 hitting percentage.  The Purple and Gold took the lead at 11-10 on a Fort Wayne hitting error and never looked back on the set. Western extended the lead to 22-13 after a 5-0 run thanks to kills from Ann Miller, Jordan Jackson, and Samantha Fournier.
 
Ann Miller and Peyton Crosser led the attack, with each player recording 10 kills. Mallory Gibson added six kills and Jordan Jackson didn't commit an error while collecting five kills of her own. Samantha Fournier posted a match-high 25 assists, while three players recorded double-digit digs. Fournier led with 13 digs, Molly Murphy had 12, and Ann Miller rounded out the back line with 11 digs.
 
Western Illinois heads on the road for its first road conference match of the season, as the Leathernecks head to Fargo, North Dakota to face North Dakota State. First serve is slated for 1 p.m. (CT).