Macomb, Ill- The Leatherneck Volleyball team completed the sweep of the Eastern Illinois Panthers in four sets tonight to get back over .500 in conference play. The Leathernecks are currently 10-8 overall which is the most wins in a season for WIU since 2013 when they finished 12-18.
The Leathernecks were led offensively by Keyana Cruse (18 kills) and Elizabeth Ziegler (15 kills). Ziegler had a hitting percentage of .414 to lead all Leathernecks. Defensively, Keyana Cruse had a team-high 15 digs and Julianna Schmidt had two solo blocks and three block assists to lead WIU.
Set one saw the Leathernecks come back several times. EIU jumped out to an 8-4 lead to start off the set, but Elizabeth Ziegler would get a kill to jump start a 4-1 run for WIU to take a 9-8 set lead. The Panthers would respond with a 7-2 run of their own to retake the lead at 15-9. The teams would trade the next six points as the Panthers would hold on to an 18-12 lead. A kill by Brittany Wulf would fuel an 8-3 run that would cut EIU's deficit to just 21-20. Trailing 24-22 late in the set, WIU would go on a 3-0 run thanks to a Keyana Cruse kill followed by a Grace Kremer block to give WIU a 25-24 lead. The Panthers and Leathernecks would trade the next several points and WIU would eventually take the first set by a score of 31-29.
In set two, EIU jumped out to a big lead early once again going up by a score of 11-5. That big run to start the set would be the difference as the Leathernecks would cut the Panther lead to 21-20 late in the set. The Panthers would end the second set on a 4-2 run to take the set by a score of 25-22.
In set three, WIU would flip the script and took a 12-7 lead to start the set. Back-to-back kills by Keyana Cruse and Grace Ulatowski would highlight the big run early on. The Leathernecks would maintain the lead the rest of the way and would end the third set on a 5-0 run which included back-to-back kills by Grace Nichols and Elizabeth Ziegler. WIU would take the set by a score of 25-19.
In set four, the Leathernecks would again take an early lead by a score of 9-4 behind two Service aces by Brittany Wulf. Later in the set, Julianna Schmidt had back-to-back kills to extend the Leatherneck lead at 18-12 and WIU would take the fourth and final set by a score of 25-17.
WIU will travel to Evansville, IN to take on Southern Indiana on Friday and Saturday. Friday's match is scheduled for 6 p.m while Saturday's match is scheduled for 2 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.
