9-17-2024
On a night of excitement where volleyball returned to downtown Huntington for the 2024 campaign, the Eastern Kentucky University Colonels came in and spoiled the party, taking home a 3-1 victory against the Herd. Both teams posted 6-3 records coming into the contest, and an even fight appeared on the horizon for these two squads; the fans got exactly what was promised.
EKU came in with a mission, and it started off scorching hot. The Colonels won the first set by a score of 25-18, then continued that momentum into taking the second set 25-17. The contest looked as if it would be over early, but nobody can doubt the fight of Thundering Herd Volleyball Team, as they came back and stole the third set 25-18.
The fourth set was back-and-forth the whole way, with punches coming from both sides and neither squad budging one bit. Momentum was ever-changing and hard to come by, as the largest lead in the final set was Marshall up three with a score of 11-8. Finally, it came down to the wire when both teams were knotted at 21, and EKU ended up pulling out the victory with a score of 25-23.
All credit must go to Eastern Kentucky, as they played a fantastic game and had a few players with eye-popping performances. The player-of-the-match for WMUL-FM was sophomore setter Emilee Hill, and rightfully so. Hill played an impressive all-around game, being second in two categories on her team with 24 assists and 18 digs, while also being tied for highest total service aces on either team with three. The Colonels also had three women with higher kill-totals than any of the players on the Marshall squad, truly over-powering the Herd with their offense.
The game was not all bleak for the Herd of course, as it truly did seem that a comeback was on the menu after their well-played third set. It was not enough though, despite another great performance from Brynn Brown with a double-double of 10 kills and 25 assists, both being team-highs. The Herd also had solid defensive showings from Megan Taylor with five blocks, and Beatrice Ciccarelli with three blocks of her own.
The Thundering Herd look to bounce back this weekend, as it heads to the University of North Carolina Greensboro for a three-game weekend tournament. The first of these matches will be at 10 a.m. on Friday against Georgetown University.