Oct. 2, 2009

Final Stats

RICHMOND, Ky. (Friday, October 2, 2009) – The Redhawks volleyball team suffered a tough 3-2 (24-26, 26-24, 25-22, 14-25, 7-15) conference road loss to Eastern Kentucky in McBrayer Arena on Friday evening. The loss snapped a five-match winning streak against the Colonels including three-straight wins on the Colonels home court.

The Redhawks (6-9, 3-3 OVC) held a 2-1 advantage after winning the second and third sets but came out flat in the fourth set hitting just .026 and recording just seven kills. The Colonels (1-12, 1-3) doubled the Redhawks kill output in that set and forced a fifth and deciding set for the match.

The Redhawks again dug themselves a hole early and couldn’t climb out as they quickly fell behind 8-3. They managed to cut the lead to two points, 8-6 but the Colonels closed the match out with a 7-1 run for their first win since November 4, 2008, a span of 16-straight losses. It was the Colonels first victory over an Ohio Valley Conference for since October 24, 2008 when they defeated Eastern Illinois, 3-0.

The Redhawks lost the opening set despite out-hitting the Colonels .371 to .341 but the Colonels held the advantage in kills, 20-16.

In that opening frame the Redhawks jumped ahead 5-1 before the Colonels rallied to grab their first lead of the game 18-17 after chipping away at the Redhawks lead. The Colonels later grabbed a three-point lead 23-20 but the Redhawks had their own rally to tie the set at 24-all. The Colonels closed out the set with back-to-back kills for the opening set win.

The second set played out much like the first one but with the result in the Redhawks favor. They again grabbed an early lead only to see the scrappy Colonels rally to tie the set at 18-18 after leading by as much as five, 17-12.

The Colonels were serving for set point, 24-23 but the Redhawks recorded the crucial sideout and finished the set with three-straight points highlighted by Emily Hughes (St. Benedict/Memphis, Tenn.) set-winning kill.

The third frame started off with the Colonels holding the early edge but the Redhawks quickly pulled ahead and led by as much as five, 24-19 late in the set. The Colonels made it interesting with a 3-0 run to make it 24-22 but the Redhawks recorded the final point for the second set win and 2-1 lead before melting down in the final two sets.

The Redhawks finished with an attack percentage of .173 and allowed the Colonels to hit .259. The Colonels recorded 76 kills compared to the Redhawks 59. The Redhawks tied a season-high with eight service aces in the match.

Senior Karleigh DeLong (Santiago/Corona, Calif.) recorded her third-straight double-double with team-high 19 kills on 56 swings and 12 digs. It was her team-best sixth double-double of the season.

Hughes recorded 17 kills and a team-best .250 attack percentage. Fellow middle blocker Emily Maher (Marcus/Flower Mound, Texas.) chipped in nine kills.

Kelly Benacka (Jacobs/Algonquin, Ill.) matched DeLong with her sixtth double-double of the season (all within the last six matches) with a team-high 44 assists and 18 digs.

Molly Davis (Burris/Muncie, Ind.) led the Redhawks with 20 digs, extending her consecutive double digit dig matches to 35. It was her ninth-straight match in which she has recorded 20 or more digs.

Lauren Snyder had a career match for the Colonels as she led all players with 30 kills on 56 swings for a .446 attack percentage. She also added 11 digs, three service aces and three block assists to account for 34.5 of the 94 Colonels points.

Preseason All-OVC 2nd Team selection Lindsey Loescher added 19 kills and 14 digs. Abby O’Connor led all players with 32 digs and Kate Hendle handed out 66 assists and added 19 digs.

The Redhawks look to bounce back tomorrow as they head to Morehead State for a 1:00 p.m. match at Wetherby Gymnasium.