The Eastern Michigan University women’s volleyball team played two matches on the road to round out the week. The first match had the team traveling to Mount Pleasant Thursday to take on the Central Michigan Chippewas.
The match was close, but the Chippewas proved to be too much for the Eagles as they took the loss in straight sets (25-23, 25-23, 26-24).
Leading the way for the Eagles was senior outside hitter Rachel Iaquaniello, who had a team leading 14 kills on the night. Junior outside hitter Erin Short was not far behind, adding 10 more. The loss took the Eagles to 11-8 on the year and was their second Mid-American Conference loss in three conference matches.
In the first set, the Eagles took an early 3-0 lead on two kills from Iaquaniello and an attack error on CMU. The Chippewas quickly took the lead, but EMU tied it back up on a kill from Short. The entire set was back and forth, even tied 19-19. CMU never looked
back however, and they took the set by a score of 25-23.
The second set was not much better for the Eagles. CMU took the lead 18-17 and that was all they needed. The Eagles mounted a brief comeback that brought them within one point of the Chippewas, but CMU took the win again 25-23. EMU sophomore outside hitter Paige Roback led the way with five kills.
The third set was just as much of a tug of war as the previous two. There were 12 lead changes in the set, but the Chippewas eventually tied the match at 24 and won 26-24. Iaquaniello had four kills in the set, bringing her match total to 14. Short also added four.
The story of the night was sophomore setter Kim Hildreth, who had 14 assists in the third set, for a total of 37 on the night.
Hildreth has 371 for the season, second only to freshman setter Alyssa Davis (383).
Saturday’s match brought the Eagles to Athens, Ohio to face off against the Ohio University Bobcats. The Eagles took another hard fought straight set defeat (25-20, 25-17, 25-23) falling to 11-9 (1-3 MAC) on the year.
The Eagles took a quick 7-3 lead in the first set, but the Bobcats fought right back. After tying the match at seven, the Bobcats went on to take a 12-7 lead and never looked back. The Eagles went on a late rally, but were unable to retake the lead and fell by a score of 25-20. Iaquaniello had four kills in the set.
The second set was all Bobcats. They had the lead for the entire set and won by a score of 25-17. Short led the team with four kills in the set, with Iaquaniello providing two and senior middle blocker Kristen Baker adding two of her own.
The final set was one not unlike any of Saturday’s. There were 13 lead changes, but the Eagles finally lost by a score of 25-23. Roback had three kills, while Iaquaniello also added three. The team was also helped from aces by Roback and freshman libero Sierra Reed.
The team’s next match will be Oct. 12 when they square off against Bowling Green. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
