Macomb, Ill- On a day where the Leatherneck volleyball team needed a win to stay in the top four of the OVC standings, it would take all five sets for WIU to get the job done.
Honoring the seniors for their final home game at Western Hall, the senior class stepped up in a big way combining for 52 kills and 58 assists. Keyana Cruse and Brittany Wulf would each have 18 kills with Grace Nichols adding 7 kills, hitting .588 to lead the team. Maggie Craker would have 50 assists with Karli Wenzel having seven and Charity Dundas adding one assist.
WIU came out of the gates hot going up 12-6 in set one. After a 4-0 run by Morehead State to cut the Leatherneck lead to 16-14, Grace Nichols would get a kill and Brittany Wulf would get a block to end the Eagle run. WIU would close out the first set on a 3-0 run with kills from Keyana Cruse and Grace Ulatowski as they would take set one by a score of 25-19.
The momentum would carry over into set two for the Leathernecks as they would jump out to an 18-8 lead to start. Morehead State responded with an 8-2 run of their own to make the set 20-16 in favor of WIU. Keyana Cruse and Grace Nichols would team up for a block on the next point to end the Eagle run putting WIU up 21-16 late in the set. The two teams would trade the next several points before an Elizabeth Ziegler kill would put the Leathernecks one point away from taking set two. Morehead State would get a kill delaying the set two victory, but Brittany Wulf would follow the Eagle point with a kill to put the Leathernecks up 2 sets to none.
Morehead State would not go down without a fight as they would take a commanding 19-9 lead to start set three. Elizabeth Ziegler would get back-to-back kills that would start an extended 10-5 run for WIU. The quick start to the set would help the Eagles take the third set by a score of 25-20. Set four was back-and-forth the entire way with the biggest lead being four. Brittany Wulf would have a kill and back-to-back service aces to give WIU the lead at 12-11 midway through the fourth set. A 6-1 run by the Eagles in the later part of the set would give Morehead State the set four victory by a score of 25-21.
Coming into this afternoon's matchup, the Leathernecks were 0-4 in matches that went to the fifth set, three of them coming in conference play. WIU would flip the script by starting out set five on a 6-2 run with two kills from Grace Nichols and a service ace from Keyana Cruse. Morehead State would continue to fight back as they would go on a 3-0 run late in the set to make it 11-9 in favor of the Leathernecks. Keyana Cruse would get a kill on the next point to make it 12-9 and WIU would close out the fifth and final set on a 4-0 run to take the set and the match.
With the win, the Leathernecks are now 16-11 overall with a conference record of 10-6. WIU has now officially qualified for the OVC Volleyball tournament for the second year in a row, making it to the tournament in the first two seasons as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Leathernecks will now travel to Nashville, TN to take on the Tennessee State Tigers in their final two regular season matchups of the season. Both matches on Thursday and Friday are scheduled for 6 p.m.
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