Box Score
FLORENCE, Ala. – Riding a 16-match winning streak and looking to remain unbeaten in conference play, Eastern Kentucky fell behind 2-1 at the North Alabama before staging a comeback for a 3-2 victory on Saturday.
At 17 straight wins, the Colonels (22-2, 12-0 UAC) have the second-longest active winning streak in the nation. Only undefeated and No. 1 ranked Nebraska (22-0) has a longer streak of wins.
EKU won by scores of 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 25-18 and 15-13.
Trailing 2-1 in the match, a 5-1 run in the fourth set allowed Eastern Kentucky to turn a 3-point lead into a 7-point margin. Consecutive attack errors from the Lions handed Eastern a 20-13 advantage. The Colonels scored the final four points of the set, including a block from
Emma Closurdo and
Alexis Bull, to finish it and tie the match.
A kill from
Emilee Hill tied the fifth set 10-10, but North Alabama scored the next three points. A kill from Reese Ricketts made it a 13-10 margin. EKU rallied. Starting with a kill from Hudson, the Colonels scored the final five points of the match. Closurdo tied it, 13-13, with a kill. A UNA attack error handed Eastern match-point. The Lions failed to handle an attack from Closurdo, officially scored as a bad set, to end the match.
Four players registered 13 or more kills for the winners.
Audrey Hudson and
Emma Closurdo had 15 each.
Addison Burke finished with 14 kills and 13 digs. Hill posted a triple-double for the second straight match, contributing 13 kills, 27 assists, 24 digs and one block.
The Lions (18-7, 8-4 UAC) jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the first set, but the Colonels came back. An ace from Hudson tied it, 11-11. With UNA leading 13-12, EKU used a 7-1 run to seize control. Burke tied it with a kill, 13-13. Another kill from the sophomore capped the run and put the visitors ahead 19-14. Back-to-back kills from Hudson and Bull ended the opener, 25-19.
Eastern took a 16-14 lead on a kill from Hill in the second set. However, North Alabama scored six straight. An ace from Ally Greenwell made it 20-16. A kill by Ricketts ended the set, 25-21, and tied the match.
The Colonels went up 19-17 in the third set on a kill from Hudson. The Lions rolled off four straight and went on top by two, 21-19, after a kill from Ricketts and an attack error. Eastern Kentucky scored the next two, on kills from Closurdo and Burke, to tie it at 21-21. The back-and-forth continued with UNA scoring two straight. A block from Ricketts and Dylann Garner put the home team ahead 23-21. Garner's kill ended it, 25-23, and gave her squad a 2-1 lead.
Eastern was out-blocked 11-6 in the match, but had four more kills, three more aces and two fewer service errors.
Ricketts had 20 kills and 11 errors for North Alabama.
The Colonels will play at Austin Peay on Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET.
