Box Score vs. Murray State  |  Box Score vs. Georgia State

RICHMOND, Ky. – With a pair of 3-0 wins on the first day of the Geri Polvino Invitational (GPI) Eastern Kentucky University ran its winning streak to six straight matches.
 
The final day of the GPI starts at 11 a.m. on Saturday when Murray State and Georgia State take the court.  EKU closes out the event at 1:30 p.m. against Chattanooga.  The EKU/Chattanooga match will air live on ESPN+.
 
In their first match of the day, AG Vandagriff led the Colonels (7-2) to a 3-0 win over Murray State.  The sophomore right side finished with 14 kills and no errors in 27 attempts for a .519 attack percentage.  She also had four digs and three blocks.
 
In the first set against the Racers (5-2), the Colonels fell behind by six, 12-6, early in the match.  EKU was still down four, 18-14, before scoring four unanswered to tie it up.  Josie Schmitendorf's ace made it 18-18.  A kill from Carson Ledford and a MSU ball handling error pushed the home team in front 23-21.  Back-to-back Racer attack errors ended the opening set 25-22.
 
EKU started the second set by scoring 10 of the first 14 points and cruised to an 11-point win.  Katie McKune closed it out with a kill.  The Colonels started fast again in the third set, jumping ahead by seven, 12-5.  Murray State battled back, tying it three times before taking a 19-18 lead on an attack error.  However, EKU scored five of the next six to take back control.  Vandagriff's 14th kill of the match ended the set, 25-23, and the match.
 
McKune finished with seven kills and hit .385.  Chloe Mason had 19 assists, 14 digs and four aces.  Schmitendorf finished with 18 digs. 
 
Ella Vogel led Murray State with 11 kills.  EKU out-hit the Racers .243 to 207 and served up 11 aces – 10 more than MSU.
 
In a sweep over Georgia State (3-5), Ledford contributed 10 kills in 14 attempts and did not have an error, posting a .714 attack percentage.  Kambree Lucas had four aces as the Colonels out scored the Panthers 7-1 on the serve.  Schmitendorf added 23 more digs in the second match.
 
As a team, EKU had 11 more digs and limited GSU to a .068 attack percentage.
 
The Colonels led by only one, 21-20, late in the first set before consecutive attack errors from the Panthers pushed the advantage to three.  Lucas gave EKU set-point with a kill.  A GSU ball handling error ended the first 25-21.
 
A 5-1 run midway through the second set turned a 2-point Colonel lead into a 6-point edge.  A kill from Sarah Mitchell made it 18-12.  Ledford's kill ended the set 25-18 and staked the maroon and white to a 2-0 lead.
 
EKU scored first and led the entire third set.  After Georgia State closed an 8-point lead to five, 18-13, on an ace from Erin Wyatt, the Colonels scored the final seven points of the set to win 25-13.