NORMAL, IL - The Western Illinois Women's Volleyball team played in the Linda Herman Volleyball Classic this weekend, finishing with a 1 and 1 record on the weekend.
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The first match was played against Illinois State on September 11th, and finished with a final score of 3 sets to 0 in favor of the Redbirds.
Friday
The first set started with the Leathernecks taking a 6-4 lead, before Illinois State went on a 12-1 run, giving them a 16-7 lead, and creating a scenario where the Leathernecks would have to play from behind. The two teams went back and forth for the rest of the set, but the final set score ended 17-25.
Set 2 was one that the Leathernecks dropped 13-25, and was one where Illinois State had 4 separate runs of 3 points or more. Western Illinois was also able to go on 2 different 3 point runs, but were unable to stop the Redbirds from going on runs of their own, which led to the score being lopsided.
The final set was the most contentious, ending with a final score of 24-26. The teams traded points during the entire set, with the Leathernecks holding 7 different leads throughout. The two teams ended up tied at 24, before the Redbirds got 2 straight points to end the set with a score 24-26.
Three Leathernecks, Hillary Estes, Kennedy Adair, and Ashlee Markert all led the team with 4 kills, with Jaleah Bauss leading the Leathernecks in digs with 8, and assists with 12. The Leathernecks had 6 total blocks, with Georgia Haynes leading the way with 3 for Western Illinois.
For the Redbirds, 4 girls tied for the lead with 6 kills on the match, with Ella Craggs being the assist leader for the team, with 15 on the match. Samantha Bunch led Illinois State with 8 digs, with Peyton Turner and Emilija Arsic following just behind with 7 digs. Addisyn Pohl also led the team with 5 block assists in the game, showing the stout defense that Illinois State had.
Saturday
The second match on the weekend was against Purdue Fort-Wayne, and was a game that saw 3 very close, back-and-forth sets, which ultimately culminated in a loss for the Leathernecks 3 sets to 0.
The first set went back and forth multiple times, with both teams being tied at 25 at one point during the set. The Leathernecks were in control for most of the set, but the Mastodons got the pivotal 2 point swing when it mattered the most, resulting in a 25-27 win for Purdue Fort-Wayne.
Set 2 was a similar story, with the Leathernecks starting out up 7-0, before the lead slowly started to whittle away. The Leathernecks still did not trail until the score was 13-14, but after that moment the two teams traded points back and forth throughout the rest of the set, which got the score to 21-23. The Mastodons then claimed the final 2 points, which means that the final set score ended up being 21-25.
The third and final set of the match also was highly contentious, with teams trading points back and forth, not one team being able to hold a firm lead. The Leathernecks did lead at one point by a score of 19-16, but the Mastodons were able to have that lead erased with 4 straight points. The teams then traded ties at 20-20, 21-21, 22-22, 23-23, and 24-24, before the Mastodons won 2 straight points to put the final at 24-26.Â
The leader for the Leathernecks in kills was Ashlee Markert with 15, almost double the next closest total. Jaleah Bauss led the team with 22 assists, and Kennedy Adair led the team with 9 digs, followed closely by Grace Ulatowski and Ashlee Markert with 8 a piece.
Next Time
The Leathernecks will head to the Capital Credit Union Classic to face Green Bay on September 18th and 19th, with games at 6pm and 2pm respectively. These will be the last two games before conference play starts against SEMO on September 25th and 26th, which will also mark the hope opener for the Leathernecks.
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