The Morehead State Volleyball team rallied from behind to win the second and fourth sets, but eventually fell to Indiana State, 3-2. They lost 25-19 (ISU), 27-25 (MSU), 25-23 (ISU), 25-19 (MSU), 15-12 (ISU).
A day after trailing most of the way against Marshall, the Eagles once again trailed in every set. But, on Saturday afternoon they found a way to bounce back. Trailing 19-13 in the second, they rallied to win 27-25, and then in the fourth, after trailing 10-2, they outscored the Sycamores 23-9 the rest of the way to force a pivotal fifth set.
In the fifth, MSU found themselves in a hole once again. But, this time they were unable to recover as ISU closed out the set and the match, 15-12.
"Several times they could have folded, they could have packed up," said head coach Jaime Gordon. "We're a family. That's our identity and our character. That family bond is strong and it's pretty resilient. I think that's what they showed."
The Eagles hit .250 as a team and three players finished with at least 13 kills. Freshman Meridith Jewell led the way with 20 kills, junior Sydney Schuler tied a career-high with 14, and junior Courtney Smith, who missed last season due to an injury, had 13.
"Sydney (Schuler) did a really nice job of being a solid offensive threat," said Gordon. "Meridith (Jewell) had some really big moments. And that's what we have to do throughout the season, we have to find those sparks and those sparks are going to come from different people."
For the second consecutive match, Morehead State dealt with an injury as sophomore Jessie Wachtman was forced to leave the game in the fourth set due to an apparent knee injury. They also played without starting libero, junior Hope Rilemma.
"I think our squad showed a lot of character," said Gordon. "We had a bit of adversity throughout the weekend with a couple of injuries, but I'm very proud of the way they handled that. I think we showed what we are going to be about this season, which is a balance of strong veterans and talented youth."
The Eagles travel to Easton, Penn. next weekend to participate in the Crosstown Challenge. They face Marist and Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday and then Lafayette and Lehigh on Saturday.
