Marshall University Athletics
Marshall University
Morehead State
@HerdVolleyball Sweeps Morehead State
8/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Final Stats | Final Stats (PDF)
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Marshall volleyball team earned its first win of the regular season by sweeping the Morehead State Eagles, 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-14), on Tuesday night inside Wetherby Gym.
"Always great to get your first win of the season," head coach Mitch Jacobs said. "For the most part tonight both teams played pretty even. I'm very proud of our team that when they were pushed we pushed back and were able to finish each set."
The Thundering Herd (1-3) was led on offensive by sophomore Jac'cara Walker and senior Taylor Pelton. Walker posted her third double-double of the season with 17 kills and 11 digs. She held a .361 hitting percentage. Pelton recorded a season-high 10 kills and two aces.
Sophomore Madelyn Cole and senior Kayla Simmons paced the Herd with 23 and 18 assists, respectively. Sophomore Amber Weber had a team-high 14 digs, while freshman Jessa Long had 11. Sophomore Madison Hill and Cole each had two total blocks.
The match started out very even to begin the first set. It wasn't until Morehead State (2-2) scored seven out of eight points to take an 11-8 lead over the Herd. The Eagles pushed its lead to 15-11, but Marshall battled back and tied it at 16. The Thundering Herd benefited from three MSU attacking errors and two kills by Walker to take a 21-19 lead. From there, the Herd closed out the set by scoring four straight points, including a kill from Cole, Pelton and a block by Pelton and Hill.
The second frame featured only two ties and one lead change. After the teams were tied at one, Morehead State took two consecutive points to build an early 3-1 lead. Marshall rallied to tie it at three after a Justice Craft kill. The Herd took the lead and never lost control of it at 4-3 with a kill from Pelton. Marshall eventually built its lead to six at the 11-5 mark, its largest lead of the set. Morehead State did bring the set within one at 15-14, but MU was able to fight off the rally and took a two set advantage in the match.
Marshall and Morehead State went back-and-forth to begin the third set, as neither team gained a lead larger than two. The Herd eventually pulled away after winning five points in a row to take a 16-10 lead. Marshall closed out the frame by scoring 9 of the last 13 points.
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The Thundering Herd will travel to the Spartan Invitational hosted by Michigan State from Sept. 1-2. Marshall opens the tournament against Michigan State on Friday at 7 p.m. MU finishes the tournament Saturday against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. and San Diego State at 4:30 p.m.
---HerdZone.com---
