Nov. 3, 2009

Final Stats

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (Tuesday, November 3, 2009) – The Redhawks volleyball team appears to be on an offensive roll of late and Tuesday night’s road win over Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville reaffirmed this trend. The Redhawks won their second-straight match and swept the season series against the Ohio Valley Conference’s newest member with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-14, 22-25, 25-20) at the SIUE Student Fitness Center.

The Redhawks (11-15) recorded their third-straight match in which they finished with an attack percentage over .200 and it was their fourth time they have done so in the last five matches.

They recorded an attack percentage of .261, the second-highest percentage by the team this season.

It wasn’t all offense for the Redhawks as evidenced by the first two sets. In the opening set they trailed early as the Cougars (1-24) jumped ahead 6-2. The Redhawks tied the match at 9-9 and then used a 4-0 run to grab the lead for good as the closest the Cougars would get would be 20-17. However the Redhawks would win the five of the final six points to win the first set.

The Redhawks recorded 16 kills for a .273 attack percentage while the Cougars managed 11 kills but just a .116 attack percentage.

The second set wasn’t any better for the Cougars who finished with a .029 attack percentage. The Redhawks would go on to hit .417 as they committed just one attack error. A late 11-4 run by the Redhawks sealed the win and gave them a 2-0 advantage.

In the third set the two teams played even throughout until the Cougars used a 4-1 run to grab a 21-17 lead. The Cougars increased their lead to 24-19 until the Redhawks used a 3-0 run to cut the lead to two, 24-22. A kill by Sydney Winslow ended the set and made it a 2-1 match.

17 of the Cougars 25 points came by kill as they finished with a .282 attack percentage. The Redhawks hit just .158 attack percentage.

In the fourth and final set the Cougars again grabbed an early lead. The Redhawks again rallied and jumped ahead 17-9 thanks to a 7-0 run. The Cougars made it close thanks to a large run of their own as they cut the lead to two, 21-19. The Redhawks stole the momentum thanks to a timeout and closed the set winning four of the final five points highlighted by an Emily Hughes (St. Benedict/Memphis, Tenn.) match winner.

Hughes finished with a match-best 13 kills with five of those kills coming in the opening set. She committed just three attck errors on 29 swings for a .345 attack percentage.

Karleigh DeLong (Santiago/Corona, Calif.) recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 12 kills and 10 digs. She too committed just two attack errors for a .278 attack percentage.

Claire Keaton (Incarnate Word Academy/St. Louis, Mo.) also recorded 12 kills to round out the Redhawks top offensive players. Keaton also had just two attack errors for a .270 attack percentage.

Setter Sarah Barth (Central Community/Germantown, Ill.) handed out a match-high 39 assists and just missed out on a double-double with nine digs. Barth also added six kills and recorded a team-best .417 attack percentage. Of the 11 matches in which the Redhawks have recorded an attack percentage over .200, Barth has been the team’s starting setter in eight of those matches.

Defensively Molly Davis (Burris/Muncie, Ind.) led the way with a match-high 20 digs. It was her 15th match this season she has recorded 20 or more digs.

Amanda Rickhoff (Southwestern Illinois College/Bartelso, Ill.) finished with 18 digs and added eight kills offensively.

Middle blocker Emily Maher (Marcus/Flower Mound, Texas.) recorded a match-high four block assists and one solo block.

The Cougars offense was led by Jessica Hemann who matched Hughes for the match-high with 13 kills. She led all players with a .500 attack percentage. Jamie Mueller recorded a double-double with a team-high 38 assists and 15 digs. Sammi Minton led the Cougars defense with 20 digs.

The Redhawks now return home for their final homestand of the year as they host Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky in a pair of crucial OVC matches. The Redhawks face the Eagles on Friday at 7:00 p.m. with the match being web-streamed live by KFVS12.com. On Saturday the Redhawks host the Colonels for Senior Day at 6:00 p.m.