Macomb, Ill- The Western Illinois Volleyball team picked up a crucial win tonight in four sets over in-state rival Eastern Illinois to snap their three-match losing streak. Keyana Cruse finished with a match-high 23 kills to go along with a hitting percentage of .392 and Maggie Craker set a new season-high for assists tonight finishing the match with 53.As a team, the Leathernecks had a hitting percentage of .280. On the defensive end, Karli Wenzel had a match-high 20 digs and WIU would finish the match with 76 digs as a team (19 DIG/S).
Set one was back-and-forth the entire way with the biggest lead being three throughout the entire set. The Leathernecks would tie the set seven different times thanks to kills by Grace Nichols, Elizabeth Ziegler, Brittany Wulf, and Julianna Schmidt. The Panthers would end the set on a 3-1 run to take the set by a score of 26-24.
In set two, the Leathernecks dominated the Panthers. WIU jumped out to an 11-4 lead to start the set and continued to have success against EIU going up by as much as 14 at one point during the set. Keyana Cruse would have the first three kills to start the second set for the Leathernecks, but the offense would be balanced the rest of the set. Back-to–back-to-back kills by Grace Nichols, Elizabeth Ziegler, and Brittany Wulf gave WIU a commanding 13-6 lead. Julianna Schmidt would get a kill later on in the set to put the Leathernecks up 10 and WIU would go on to take the second set by a score of 25-12.
Set three saw WIU once again take a commanding lead to start the set. The Leathernecks started the set on a 16-5 run to start the third set thanks to five kills from Keyana Cruse, which highlighted the big run to start the set. The Panthers would not go down without a fight as they would go on a run of their own to cut the deficit to 17-10. A Keyana Cruse kill would end that run and she would go on to have eight kills in the set as the Leathernecks would win the set by a score of 25-17.
Set four was another back-and-forth battle between the two squads with both teams making runs throughout the set. A 10-3 run by EIU put the Panthers in front by a score of 13-10 in the middle of the fourth set. The Leathernecks would respond with an 8-4 run of their own to take the lead at 18-17. Elizabeth Ziegler and Julianna Schmidt would go back-to-back-to-back to regain the lead for WIU. The set would stay close the rest of the way until back-to-back kills late in the set by Brittany Wulf and Elizabeth Ziegler would give WIU the set four victory by a score of 26-24.
The Leathernecks will be back in action tomorrow afternoon as they will host the Panthers for the final time during the regular season. First serve is set for 4 p.m.
FOLLOW THE LEATHERNECKS
For all the latest information on Leatherneck Volleyball, please visit GoLeathernecks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Leathernecks on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook.
