Tech nearly sinks league-leading Morehead State, falls 3-2
Cruising toward an apparent OVC title, the Morehead State volleyball team nearly ran aground Friday evening against an inspired Tennessee Tech squad. The league-leading Eagles recovered to win the final two contests for a 3-2 victory in Eblen Center.
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- Kaitlin Craven and Ellie Roberson kept
Morehead State's championship hopes on course Friday night as the
Eagles survived an upset bid to claim a 3-2 Ohio Valley Conference
volleyball victory over Tennessee Tech in Eblen Center.
Cruising toward an apparent OVC title, Morehead State nearly ran
aground against an inspired Golden Eagle squad. Tech claimed the
first and third sets for a 2-1 lead before Craven bailed out the
visitors in the fourth set and Roberson took control in the fifth
set.
Morehead State improved to 17-9 overall and 10-1 in OVC play. The
Golden Eagles, who host second-place Eastern Kentucky Saturday at 2
p.m., slipped to 6-15 overall and 4-6 in the league.
Craven finished with a match-high 19 kills, while Roberson and
Holly Evans added 14 kills each. Three Eagle players reached double
digits in digs, led by Liz Schiler with 16, while setter Kirstie
Brangers had 56 of the team's 59 assists. Morehead had nine team
blocks, topped by Emma Keough with five total blocks.
Senior Leah
Meffert had 17 kills and 23 digs for the Golden Eagles while
classmate Marie
Peddicord (pictured above) added 14 kills on a solid .444
hitting performance. Sophomore Kelsey Gray had 16 kills
and four total blocks. On the back row, freshman Allison May had 26
digs while setter Melanie Culp provided 57
assists. Freshman Elise Robertson also chipped in with good
numbers, hitting .625 on the way to five kills and adding a
team-best five total blocks.
Tech finished strong in the first set to claim a 25-21 decision.
After trailing by three a couple of times, the Golden Eagles used a
kill by Meffert to begin their rally. Down 16-15, Tech went on a
9-4 stretch that included two kills by Peddicord and blocks by Gray
and Robertson. Gray had five kills in the set.
Morehead State bounced back with a strong presence at the net in
the second set, getting four blocks on the way to a 25-17 victory
to knot the match at 1-1. Following a 4-0 start by the Golden
Eagles, MSU put together a 12-2 run to build a 12-6 lead. That was
followed by a 5-1 run that pushed tha margin to 17-10 and the
Eagles eased their way to the finish line. Craven had five kills in
the set.
Tech played one of its best sets of the season in the middle set to
claim a 25-20 victory, posting a .457 hitting mark with 18 kills
and only two errors. Peddiccord had five kills in six chances while
Gray and Meffert added four kills, Natalie Penrod three and
Robertson two. Evans kept Morehead close with six kills and a .556
hitting mark.
The fourth set saw Morehead dominate on the way to a 25-15 decision
to force the fifth set. Craven had three kills in a 9-2 run that
turned an 11-10 MSU lead into a 20-12 margin. Roberson and Keough
also provided kills and the Golden Eagles struggled with four
errors in that span.
A key play in the final set came midway through with MSU holding a
7-6 lead after a kill from Meffert. As Culp got into position to
set a pass, Keough's long reach over the net earned a kill and an
8-6 lead.
Roberson followed with back-to-back kills for a 10-6 cushion and
Tech never got closer than three after that. Craven's kill made it
14-9 and Evans earned match point for the 15-10 score.
