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Western Illinois University Athletics

Celebration
2
Drake DRAKE 9-4
3
Winner Western Illinois WIU 2-10
Drake DRAKE
9-4
2
Final
3
Western Illinois WIU
2-10
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Drake DRAKE 25 29 21 25 12 (2)
Western Illinois WIU 16 31 25 15 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | WIU Athletic Communications

Volleyball Tops Drake in Five Set Thriller

Hampton Inn Invitational play continues tomorrow

PHOTO GALLERY

MACOMB, Ill. – The Western Illinois volleyball team opened up the 2016 Hampton Inn Leatherneck Invitational with a 3-2 victory over Drake Friday evening (Sept. 16). With the win, the Leathernecks improve to 2-10 on the season while Drake drops to 9-4.
 
"The team did an excellent job of battling back. We continue to be in these pressure situations where we kind of get put against the wall. You have to be able to come through and have poise, we say that word a lot in our gym, you have to have poise in these kinds of situations," said head coach Kelly Richardson. "I think that we took a big step maturity wise tonight, and we did it in a very great, and loud environment. The team did a great job of letting that work with them instead of letting it be pressure against them, and that is what we're looking for from our young kids as they are growing."
 
In the opening set, the sides traded points through the opening portion, but Drake used a 7-0 run to pull ahead 12-5. Western responded with a 4-0 run late in the set, powered by two kills from Shalyn Greenhaw, one from Riley Schumacher and an ace from Abby Skryd. The run cut Drake's lead to 23-16, but it wasn't enough as the Bulldogs took the first set 25-16.
 
Set two was a battle between both sides as the set went to extra points. Drake jumped ahead 7-2 in the second set. The Leathernecks battled back with a 4-0 spurt, but the Bulldogs continued to keep the advantage and lead 15-9. The comeback started with a kill by Melanie Patenaude, followed by two Bulldog errors and consecutive kills from Lexi Kolschefski and Skryd to cut their deficit to one point, 19-18.
 
The sides continued to exchange points and tied the set up at 23-23. After Drake went up 25-24, Western took advantage of a Bulldog error and tied things back up at 25-all. The teams went back-and-forth after that as errors hurt both sides. With the score tied 29-29, Greenhaw hammered down back-to-back kills to give Western the 31-29 set victory.
 
Western battled back in set three as well. Down 8-6, the Leathernecks used a 5-0 run to force a Drake timeout after they took an 11-8 lead. Drake answered back with four consecutive points to regain the 12-11 lead. The teams kept it close after that, but three kills from Schumacher, Dechant and Patenaude put the Leathernecks ahead for good. Skryd helped seal the set victory with back-to-back kills as Western took set three 25-21.
 
It was all Drake in set four as they found themselves ahead 17-10. Western struggled to find momentum as they dropped the fourth set 25-15.
 
In the pivotal fifth set, the Leathernecks found themselves down 7-5. Western then used a 6-0 run to charge ahead 11-7. Drake used three straight points to cut the score to 12-11 to force a Western timeout. Greenhaw and Riley Schumacher then came up with the game-winning kills to take the set 15-12, as Western won their second straight match, 3-2.
 
Greenhaw grabbed a double-double, setting a new career-high 23 kills and tied her high of 20 digs. Skryd set a new season-high 49 assists, while Simmons led the team with 22 digs.
 
The final day of the Hampton Inn Invitational continues tomorrow. Western opens up with an 11 a.m. match over Southeast Missouri before closing competition against Weber State at 7 p.m.
 
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