Little Rock, Ark- Western Illinois Volleyball lost a five set thriller in their opening match on the road against Little Rock. The Leathernecks trailed 2-0 heading into the third set and battled all the way back to force a fifth set but ultimately came up just short of pulling off a reverse sweep.
Keyana Cruse had a double-double to lead WIU offensively finishing with a match-high 21 kills, while Maggie Craker added a match-high 38 assists. Defensively, Grace Kremer had five blocks and Grace Ulatowski had 23 digs.
Set one was all Little Rock as they would take the first set in dominant fashion winning the set by a score of 25-8. In set two, the Leathernecks jumped out to an early 4-2 lead with kills from Elizabeth Ziegler and Grace Nichols. Little Rock would respond with a 7-3 run of their own to take the set lead at 9-7. On the next point, Brittany Wulf would get a kill that would spark an 8-1 run giving WIU the set lead at 15-10. During the run, Brittany Wulf would have two kills and Maggie Craker would have a service ace. Little Rock would then proceed to go on a 6-0 run to retake the set lead at 16-15. Later in the set, Little Rock would go on a 7-1 run to distance themselves from the Leathernecks. WIU would not go down quietly as they would battle back to make the set 24-22 thanks to a Julianna Schmidt kill followed by back-to-back kills by Keyana Cruse. The Trojans would end up taking set two by a score of 25-22.
In set three, Little Rock and WIU would start off by going back-and-forth. With WIU hanging on to a 9-8 lead, the Leathernecks would have a 10-1 run to take the set lead at 19-9. During the big run, Elizabeth Ziegler had 2 kills and a block, while Keyana Cruse added three kills. The Leathernecks would hang on to the lead for the rest of the set, winning 25-13 and forcing a fourth set.
In set four, WIU would use their momentum from set three and jump out to a 9-3 lead to start the fourth set. Two huge blocks by the Leatherneck defense would highlight the 9-3 run. Little Rock would follow the Leatherneck run with a 8-2 run of their own tying the set at 11. With the match on the line, back-to-back kills by Julianna Schmidt would start a 6-0 run by the Leathernecks, who would take the set lead at 17-11. WIU would have a 5-0 run later in the set to force a winner-take-all fifth set, winning set four by a score of 25-18.
In set five, Little Rock would come out hot taking the lead at 12-4. The Leathernecks, who battled all night long, put up one last fight going on a 7-2 run making the set 14-11 in favor of Little Rock. Julianna Schmidt and Keyana Cruse would each have a kill during the run, but the run would end as Little Rock would get a kill and take the fifth set by a score of 15-11.
The Leathernecks will play their second match against Little Rock tomorrow afternoon, with first serve scheduled for 2 p.m.
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