Volleyball falls behind in league play
Western Illinois University Athletic Media Services
Issue date: 10/12/09 Section: Sports
The Western Illinois volleyball team fell to Oakland in straight sets Saturday night to finish the first half of Summit League play a game below .500.
Both teams came into the match on the heels of emotional five-set matches the previous night after the 'Necks beat IPFW and the Golden Grizzlies fell to IUPUI. Western Illinois coach Kym McKay said Oakland handled the adversity better.
"We knew it was going to be tough. A match like last night takes a lot out of you physically and mentally," McKay said. "But they were going through the same stuff we were. We just didn't play the best volleyball."
Oakland used a 7-0 run to take an early lead in the first set and the Leathernecks never recovered in a 25-16 loss. The second set saw Western battle back from an early deficit to reach a 14-14 tie, but Oakland promptly took back the lead and never gave it back in a 25-23 win. Western came out ahead to start the third set with an early 10-6 lead, but the Golden Grizzlies again made a run to come back and steal the lead at 15-14. Western couldn't regroup as Oakland closed out the set for a 25-22 win.
"We didn't get into a rhythm and Oakland did a great job getting into a rhythm offensively," McKay said. "A big part of the game came down to our lack of ball control. We had 14 reception errors on our serve receive. You are not going to win any match with that."
Cait Egan had nine kills to lead Western while Erin Frick had a season-high eight kills with a .500 hitting percentage to lead Western. Lindsay Muehlbauer led the Leathernecks with 16 digs while Bridget Murphy chipped in 13 and Krissy Bergguist had 10. Ellen Miller recorded 28 assists.
The Leathernecks fell to 8-12 overall and 4-5 in the Summit League while Oakland improved to 13-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Western will travel to UMKC Thursday, Oct. 15, before flying to Southern Utah Saturday, Oct. 17.
"The second half of Summit League play is always tougher. It is tough physically because of the wear and tear of the season, but it is also much more demanding mentally," McKay said. "We have to evaluate our levels of mental toughness from the first half of the season and do more than that."
Both teams came into the match on the heels of emotional five-set matches the previous night after the 'Necks beat IPFW and the Golden Grizzlies fell to IUPUI. Western Illinois coach Kym McKay said Oakland handled the adversity better.
"We knew it was going to be tough. A match like last night takes a lot out of you physically and mentally," McKay said. "But they were going through the same stuff we were. We just didn't play the best volleyball."
Oakland used a 7-0 run to take an early lead in the first set and the Leathernecks never recovered in a 25-16 loss. The second set saw Western battle back from an early deficit to reach a 14-14 tie, but Oakland promptly took back the lead and never gave it back in a 25-23 win. Western came out ahead to start the third set with an early 10-6 lead, but the Golden Grizzlies again made a run to come back and steal the lead at 15-14. Western couldn't regroup as Oakland closed out the set for a 25-22 win.
"We didn't get into a rhythm and Oakland did a great job getting into a rhythm offensively," McKay said. "A big part of the game came down to our lack of ball control. We had 14 reception errors on our serve receive. You are not going to win any match with that."
Cait Egan had nine kills to lead Western while Erin Frick had a season-high eight kills with a .500 hitting percentage to lead Western. Lindsay Muehlbauer led the Leathernecks with 16 digs while Bridget Murphy chipped in 13 and Krissy Bergguist had 10. Ellen Miller recorded 28 assists.
The Leathernecks fell to 8-12 overall and 4-5 in the Summit League while Oakland improved to 13-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Western will travel to UMKC Thursday, Oct. 15, before flying to Southern Utah Saturday, Oct. 17.
"The second half of Summit League play is always tougher. It is tough physically because of the wear and tear of the season, but it is also much more demanding mentally," McKay said. "We have to evaluate our levels of mental toughness from the first half of the season and do more than that."
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