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Western Illinois University Athletics

Mackenzie Steckler
George Hartmann
0
South Dakota St. SDSU 5-17,2-8 Summit League
3
Winner Western Ill. WIU 5-18,2-8 Summit League
South Dakota St. SDSU
5-17,2-8 Summit League
0
Final
3
Western Ill. WIU
5-18,2-8 Summit League
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
South Dakota St. SDSU 21 20 23 (0)
Western Ill. WIU 25 25 25 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball |

Volleyball Sweeps SDSU

Western Illinois volleyball takes SDSU in three led by Mackenzie Steckler with seven blocks and 12 kills.

MACOMB, ILL. – The Western Illinois volleyball team swept the South Dakota State Jackrabbits at home Sunday (Oct. 27) for the first time since the 2014 season (25-21, 25-20, 25-23).
 
"Getting a sweep in conference at home is always a great feeling," said head coach Ben Staupe. "The team came out and played with a lot of energy and bounced back from some early errors to be more consistent and efficient in the second and third set."
 
The Leathernecks outplayed the Jackrabbits in every statistical category leading in kills 43 to 32 and blocks 11 to nine with Mackenzie Steckler chipping in seven blocks of her own in addition to 12 kills.
 
Western set the tone for the match right away with a service ace from Jessie Connell followed by a block from Steckler and Mariah Mitchell. The Jackrabbits fighting back to tie the game at 8-8 were confronted by the offensive efforts of Madeline Dieter who was able to notch four kills in the first set alone. The Jackrabbits took a short-lived lead at 14-13 before the Leathernecks were able to go on a four-point run, force a time out, and secure the Western victory in the first.
 
With a 4-0 lead in the second fueled by Steckler with two kills and a block assist WIU put themselves in position to hold the lead for the entire second set. With Erika Moore back to serve Western took its largest lead at 16-9. Dieter secured set point with a kill at 24-20 hitting at .700 at the end of the second set. With a kill from JoJo Kruize, Western Illinois was up two going into the third set.
 
The Jackrabbits fought back with a close start to the third set eventually able to pull away with the lead. At 8-10, Gabby DePersio went back to the service line taking the Leathernecks on an eight-point run to flip the scoreboard in WIU favor (16-11). SDSU continued to fight, forcing the first Leatherneck timeout at 21-20 and again at 24-23. Straight out of the timeout Connell was able to feed Steckler the ball to finalize the WIU sweep.
 
DePersio finished the three-set match leading the team with 16 digs as Dieter stepped in on the attack ending the match with a .583 hitting percentage.
 
The sweep places Western Illinois tied for sixth in the Summit League Standings. Western Illinois has the chance to clinch a spot in the Summit League tournament postseason if they can hold this position.
 
Western Illinois volleyball will host its second consecutive Summit League weekend at home Friday (Nov. 1) and Sunday (Nov. 3) to take on North Dakota and North Dakota State.
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