"We
are excited about heading into conference play with a win," said head coach Kym
McKay, who reached the 90-career win plateau at Western Illinois. "We were challenged a lot of different ways and this tournament
was very similar to last weekend's (Bradley). We got better as the tournament
progressed and used different lineups throughout. We have seen a lot of
different styles of play over the last two weeks and that experience will help
us as we begin Summit League play next weekend."
Evansville
used .429 and .400 attack percentages in the first two sets to grab a 2-0 lead.
The Leathernecks raced out to an early 12-7 lead and held on late to capture
the third set. Evansville got as close as 21-18 but Western got kills from
Allison Gilbert and Cait Egan before a Brooke Stittleburg service ace closed
out the set.
In
the fourth set, Evansville took a commanding 10-3 lead and eventually secured the match victory with a 25-17 win. Offensively, freshman setter Heather Smith had 34 assists and
Gilbert was her favorite target as the 6-2 junior put down a game-high 14
kills. Egan finished with 10 kills and a .450 attack percentage.
In
the second match of the day, Western came out strong as Gilbert had six kills on
six chances and the Leathernecks hit .400 in a 25-17 first set victory. Krissy
Bergquist had five kills in the second set, but McNeese State grabbed an early
9-6 lead and used a .346 hitting percentage to win the set. In the third set,
McNeese pulled away from a 24-24 tie with a Western blocking error and double
block by Katie Kennedy and Taylor Bustamento to take 2-1 match lead.
McNeese
State raced out to a 14-11 lead in the fourth set but Western tallied eight
straight points with senior Ellen Miller serving to take a 19-14 lead and
eventually won the set 25-23. In the decisive fifth set, Western grabbed a 5-1
lead and three crucial blocks propelled the Leathernecks to the set and match
victory.
"Jumping
out to an early lead in the fifth set allowed us to play relaxed the rest of
the way," said McKay. "Everybody was very focused and on the same page from the
start and our middle blockers (Cait Egan and Katie Hosteng) came up with huge blocks when we needed
them."
Gilbert,
a native of West Salem, Wis., recorded a team-high 39 kills with a .341 hitting
percentage and five block assists in three matches over the weekend. In the win over McNeese
State, Gilbert posted a career-high 20 kills and a .425 attack percentage.
"We
have been looking for a go-to hitter this season and Allison stepped up to the
challenge this weekend," said McKay. "She was phenomenal and did
not let anything bother her. She was extremely confident in her swings and
didn't let up even when teams started to focus on shutting her down. It was
great to see her be so aggressive and we hope she can continue to perform at
that level."
Smith,
starting at setter for the fourth consecutive match, had 47 assists to record
her fourth 30-plus assist performance in five appearances this season. Stittleburg posted a career-high 15 kills and Egan had nine block assists to go
along with 11 kills. Sophomore Bridget Murphy led the Leathernecks with 14 digs
and Miller chipped in 10.
Western held a 11-7 blocking edge over the Cowgirls and recorded 62 kills
compared to McNeese State's 56.
Evansville (3-0) went on to win the tournament, while Troy (2-1) placed second. The Leathernecks (1-2) finished in third place and McNeese State (0-3) placed fourth.
Western Illinois opens conference play next weekend with a pair of Summit
League matches on the road. The Leathernecks take on Centenary in Shreveport,
La. Friday (Sept. 10) at 7 p.m. and then travel to Tulsa, Okla. Saturday (Sept.
11) for a 7 p.m. matchup with Oral Roberts.
