RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky won the opening game and had a lead late in game two, but Southeast Missouri State came from behind and earned a 3-1 victory Friday night at McBrayer Arena. Senior Brittany Nobilio came up two digs short of moving into the NCAA top-5 for career digs. Freshman Amanda Fago posted her fifth career double-double, finishing with 12 kills and 12 digs.
Game scores were 29-31, 30-27, 30-24 and 30-21.
Amanda Wilson led the Colonels with 21 kills. The junior hit .292 and finished with four blocks. Junior Bridget Mustard posted a .359 attack percentage, totaled 19 kills and four blocks. Freshman Kate Hendle reached a career-high 58 assists.
Nobilio finished the match with 31 digs. She needs just two more to overtake Jennifer Alexander (Western Illinois) for fifth place on the NCAA’s all-time digs list.
Karleigh DeLong led the Redhawks with a match-high 22 kills while hitting .377. She also added 11 digs and five blocks. Aubrey Dondlinger hit .405 with 19 kills and 15 digs. Brenna Schlader finished with eight blocks.
As a team, SEMO finished with a .302 attack percentage, while EKU hit .209.
Neither team led by more than three points in the opening game until Eastern went up by four late in the game. A kill by Fago and a Southeast attack error gave the Colonels an 18-16 advantage. The Redhawks went in front 21-20 on a kill by DeLong. Eastern used an 8-3 run, that included a pair of kills by Fago and a service ace from Abbey Blank, to take a 28-24 lead. SEMO came right back and scored five straight, including kills by Sarah Barth and Schlader, to reach game-point. A kill by Mustard tied it at 29-29 and Leah Nelson followed with a kill to give the home team a one point edge. A Redhawk attack error on the next play gave Eastern Kentucky a 1-0 lead.
Game two was just as close. A Southeast Missouri attack error gave Eastern a two-point advantage, 10-8. Blocks by Mustard and Kirby Barnhart made it 20-17 in favor of EKU. A Colonel attack error allowed the Redhawks to reach a 24-24 tie. A Schlader kill gave the visitors a one-point cushion. After a Fago kill tied the score for the last time, SEMO scored four of the next five points, three on kills by Brittany Hastings, to win the second game and tie the match at 1-1.
After the break, the Colonels came out and jumped in front 9-4 in game three. However, after a kill by Mustard made it 10-5, Southeast Missouri went on a 10-2 run to take a three-point lead, 15-12. Fago’s kill closed the gap to two but the Redhawks scored three straight for a five point advantage. Eastern would draw within three but never any closer.
Southeast Missouri committed only four errors in the third game and posted a .447 attack percentage.
Neither team could take control early in the fourth game until the Redhawks followed a Wilson kill that tied the score at 12-12 with an 8-3 spurt. Barth’s kill ended the run and gave SEMO a 20-15 lead. A kill by Schlader brought Southeast to match-point. An attack error by EKU on the next play concluded the Redhawk comeback.
Eastern Kentucky will host Eastern Illinois on Saturday at 2 p.m., at McBrayer Arena.
