Senior middle blocker Laura McDermott registered a career-best nine blocks and senior right-side hitter Alex Fitzmorris tied her Morehead State high with 19 kills in a 25-14, 26-28, 25-22, 25-19 victory over Tennessee State on Saturday (Nov. 1) afternoon at Wetherby Gym.
The Eagles improve to 2-24 overall, 2-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference and 1-12 at home. The Tigers fall to 9-18 overall, 3-9 in league action and 3-9 on the road. The teams split the regular-season series and Morehead State moves to 48-9 all-time against Tennessee State.
"Any win in Ohio Valley Conference play is big," Head Coach Jaime Gordon said. "I was pleased, and not surprised, by the way we played. Last night's five-set loss was tough to swallow, but our young ladies put that one behind them and had a good mindset from the start today."
McDermott, who also collected seven kills, was playing in her 126th match at Morehead State. Fitzmorris, a second-year Eagle after transferring, was playing in her 61st. Fitzmorris committed just two errors in 36 swings to finish with a .472 hitting percentage. She also had three blocks.
Morehead State posted advantages of 54-46 in kills, 52-44 in assists, 67-56 in digs and 14-8 in team blocks. The Eagles hit .204 for the afternoon, including .238 in the opening set and .394 in the final stanza. Junior middle blocker Hannah Sigala added 13 kills and five rejections for MSU.
"We had contributions from a variety of players today," Gordon said. "Laura and Alex were both big for us in this win. I thought our blocking was pretty solid as a team -- and we needed that. Not only did we come up with a good number of blocks, but we had them at critical points."
Freshman outside hitter Alli Evans paced the Morehead State defense with a season-high-tying 16 digs, while sophomore libero Hope Rillema stopped 15 TSU attacks. MSU senior setter Colbey Cameron contributed a career-best five blocks, match-high 46 assists and 14 digs.
The Eagles raced out to leads of 5-0 and 10-2 in the opening set. The final three sets featured all 36 ties and all 14 lead changes. Morehead State's 9-2 surge late in the fourth period sealed the set and match.
Junior middle hitter Haley Hampton, freshman setter Samantha Beltran and senior libero Ileanushka Maldonado led Tennessee State. Hampton collected 14 kills, while Beltran handed out 41 assists and Maldonado posted 15 digs. The Tigers were limited to a .123 offensive clip in the tilt.
"Our team has great character and passion for volleyball," Gordon added. "I've been as proud of this team as any I've coached. This group has faced a lot of adversity, but they've stayed together, kept a positive attitude and continued to work hard every day. That's all you can ask for."
