Richmond, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky volleyball team pushed its win streak to eight matches on Friday evening with a 3-0 win over Murray State. The Colonels (16-3, 7-0 OVC) used a match-high 19 kills from senior Lesley Aldridge to remain undefeated in league play.

After falling behind 4-1 in the early goings of game one, the Colonels built a 15-10 lead at the midway point and went on top 24-17 after an ace by Aldridge. EKU's co-captain carried the offensive load in game one, finishing with seven of Eastern's 16 kills. The Colonels outhit the Racers .314 to .056 en route to their 30-19 game one win.

Aldridge was again the story in game two, tallying eight kills to help EKU to a 30-20 victory. EKU took a 24-16 lead after a Murray State ball handling error, but the Racers fought back by scoring three unanswered points. Eastern responded with three-straight points of its own to take an eventual 30-20 win.

Freshman Shelly George sparked the Colonel attack in game three, coming off the bench to record five kills (off seven swings) in her only action of the match. Eastern jumped out to a 5-0 advantage before hitting errors allowed the Racers to tie the contest at 7-all. Back-to-back aces from sophomore Kelly Jennings afforded the Colonels a 10-7 lead, which improved to 13-8 after a kill by Aldridge. George and sophomore Jessica Sabath helped give EKU a 25-16 edge, allowing the team to coast to the 3-0 sweep.

Aldridge registered a match-high 44 swings on the night, moving her past Angela Boykins (3,558 attacks) for fifth-place on EKU's all-time list.


Jennings guided the EKU attack, finishing with 43 assists and nine digs in the win. Sabath and freshman Brittany Nobilio led the Colonels with 11 digs apiece.

Junior Liz Guard was second among all EKU players with nine kills, while chipping in three blocks. The Colonels posted nine service aces as a team, led by three from Sabath.

Murray State (4-9, 1-6 OVC) had two players reach double-figures in kills in the losing effort, receiving 11 from Katie Kemezys and 10 from Allie Hunt.

The Colonels return to action tomorrow afternoon, for a 2 p.m. bout with Tennessee-Martin.