Box Score

Dekalb, IL- The Leatherneck volleyball team dropped their second and final game of the Huskie Invitational in a wire-to-wire match that saw 40 ties and 15 lead changes. WIU was once again led offensively by Keyana Cruse who finished with a game-high 29 kills and Maggie Craker who finished with a game-high 45 assists. Elizabeth Ziegler also had another solid offensive performance finishing with 13 kills. Defensively, the Leathernecks were led in digs by Cruse with 31.

The first set saw Milwaukee jump out to an early 8-4 lead, but back-to-back errors by the Panthers gave the Leathernecks life. Following a Brittany Wulf kill to tie the set at 13, Milwaukee would respond by going on a 5-0 run to put them 18-13. Just like the night prior against Northern Illinois, WIU would not go down without a fight. The Leathernecks would go on a 5-1 run of their own to make it 19-18. The rest of the set would go back and forth with the Leathernecks tying the set 3 times in the final 5 points. 

The second set was close the whole way and the biggest lead was 4 with Milwaukee going up 19-15 late in the set. Once again, WIU would dig deep going on another 5-1 run to tie the set at 20. Elizabeth Ziegler would make several big plays down the final stretch of the set, having 3 kills in the final 5 points for the Leathernecks to give them a victory in set 2. 

Trailing 21-16 in set three, WIU would tie it at 22 as a part of a 6-1 run including 2 kills from Keyana Cruse. Cruse would follow that with 4 more kills to tie the set several times to keep the Leathernecks in it but WIU would fall 28-26. In set four, the score was tied 11 times and there were several plays made by Leathernecks to keep it close, including a Grace Kremer kill to give WIU a 19-18 lead late in the set. That was followed by another Cruse kill to give WIU a 21-19 lead. Milwaukee would respond with a 4-1 run and the Leathernecks would go on to drop the set 25-23.

The effort of WIU was there all weekend long and they would use several big runs throughout both games to get themselves back into the set. The Leathernecks are back in action next Friday and Saturday when they host the Hampton Inn Leatherneck Classic at Western Hall. WIU will play South Dakota State and Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday at 12:30 PM and 6:30 PM followed by playing UIC on Saturday at 3 PM.