9-7-2024
The Marshall Thundering Herd Volleyball team continued their quest in the Eastern Michigan Tournament after defeating Oakland University on Friday to start their three-game trip. The Herd faced off on Saturday at 11 a.m. against George Washington University, and then played the hosting Eastern Michigan University shortly after.
Marshall’s battle against George Washington began with the Herd handedly winning the first two sets by scores of 25-15 and 25-17. However, the Revolutionaries were able to gain some momentum and steal the third set in a thrilling 25-23 final score. This was only a minor setback for the Herd, as it managed to not let the third set deter them, and they were able to close out the match in four after outscoring GWU by six in the fourth.
Do not let the final scores fool you, as the teams played an extremely even match from a statistical standpoint. Both teams were even in total aces and assists, but the Thundering Herd were able to outnumber the Revolutionaries by five in kills, and by nine in digs, creating the separation they needed to pull out the victory.
The Marshall Volleyball team was once again led in kills by senior Brynn Brown with 14. The duo of Brynn Brown and Maya Hunt accumulated the most assists for the Herd, being tied with 15, and sophomore Peyton Neal was the leader in digs with an impressive 21.
Only a few hours later, the Marshall Volleyball team took on Eastern Michigan themselves, and the Eagles got off to a scorching hot start. Going into the fourth set, EMU was up 2-1 with momentum on their side. Once again though, the Thundering Herd put their foot in the ground and went to work, absolutely dominating the fourth set 25-8, and managing to pull out the victory by outscoring the Eagles 15-10 in the fifth.
The main reasons that the Herd were able to pull out this victory were their ability to steal points with service aces (15-5 in favor of the Herd), and their fantastic blocking on the net up-front with 12 blocks for Marshall, opposed to only seven for Eastern Michigan.
Unsurprisingly, Brynn Brown led the Herd in kills once more with 18, but Marshall freshman Audrey Geer was not far behind her with 15. Herd senior Sarah Stratton was a weapon up-front with eight blocks, which doubled the next game leader for either team. Additional impressive statistics for the Thundering Herd include junior Bella Thompson with 20 assists, and Peyton Neal once again leading the way in digs with 21.
The Marshall Volleyball team is back in action on Friday, as they head up to the University of Toledo for another three-game weekend tournament. Their first game is set for 10 a.m. against the Northern Kentucky Norse.