Muey records career single-match high 33 digs in win versus Lehigh

FAIRFAX, Va. (Sept. 6, 2014) – The ETSU volleyball team picked up a split on the final day of the Patriot Invitational as the Bucs swept Lehigh (25-18, 25-22, 25-17) to wrap up the tournament and win their third match of the season. Earlier on Saturday, the Blue and Gold dropped a 3-1 decision to Maryland (16-25, 25-18, 16-25, 23-25) inside the George Mason Recreation and Athletic Complex.

After securing a split on Saturday, ETSU saw its record move to 3-4 on the season.

Lehigh Recap

Looking to bounce back from a four-set loss earlier in the day to Maryland, the Bucs started fast and never looked back, sweeping the Lehigh Mountain Hawks to close out this weekend’s play at the George Mason Patriot Invitational.

Junior Khadijah Wiley (Columbus, Ga.) led the Bucs with 10 kills on 13 attacks and was trailed closely on the offensive end by teammates Rylee Milhorn (Kingsport, Tenn.) and Meredith Hardy (Kingsport, Tenn.) who each totaled nine kills apiece. Senior Katie Muey (Alexandria, Ind.) led ETSU’s stingy defense with a single-match career-high 33 digs.  

The Blue and Gold stormed out of the gate, accumulating a 7-3 advantage in set one off of a defensive stop by Wiley and senior Jamie Rutledge (Kingsport, Tenn.). Following a timeout, Lehigh crept back into the fold, trailing 8-7, but the Bucs answered with a 5-0 run to pull ahead, 14-7. ETSU kept its foot on the gas, never relinquishing a lead of less than four points before ending the set, 25-18, on a kill by Milhorn off of an assist by Rutledge.

Set two featured tightly-contested play with back and forth action early. Midway through the set, the Bucs attempted to separate from the Mountain Hawks, building up a three-point advantage (15-12) off of a Wiley and Milhorn block. As this continued and match point loomed, Lehigh fought back to get within two points, 23-21. The Bucs then held strong to fend off the LU attack and ended the set, 25-22, on a Wiley kill via a Rutledge assist.

Holding the momentum, the Blue and Gold attempted to run away with the match early in set three. ETSU accumulated a 9-4 advantage on a kill from Wiley, but Lehigh again showed fight. The Mountain Hawks pulled within two, 12-10, off of a kill by Whitney Krantz and aimed to send the match to the fourth set. The Bucs had other plans and mounted a 9-2 surge to pull ahead, 21-12. ETSU kept the pressure on LU and capped off the set with a kill from Ivey Rice (Johnson City, Tenn.) off of a feed from Kristen Favre (Plano, Texas) to win 25-17 and sweep Lehigh.

ETSU held a 43-32 kill advantage over LU and also finished with 40 assists, compared to 32 for the Mountain Hawks. In addition, the Blue and Gold held a 69 percent team attack percentage and registered three service aces.

Lehigh was led by Stephanie Slater who posted nine kills. LU was also aided by Amy Matula with 16 assists and Mariah Brantley with 20 digs.  

The Mountain Hawks dropped to 3-5 on the season.

Rylee Milhorn finished with a career-high 20 kills, but it wasn’t enough to lift the Bucs past Maryland as the Terrapins defeated ETSU in four sets (16-25, 25-18, 16-25, 23-25) on Saturday at the Patriot Invitational.

Milhorn was the lone Buccaneer player to record double-digit kills as Meredith Hardy was second on the team with four. Milhorn also added six digs, three blocks and two service aces for the Blue and Gold.

Maryland led wire-to-wire in the first set and used an 11-3 run early in the frame to control the tempo as the Terrapins finished with the 25-16 win. With the Bucs trailing 6-4, Maryland mounted its run to push the lead into double figures at, 17-7. ETSU was able to cut its deficit to six, 19-13, forcing the Terrapins a timeout after Khadijah Wiley and Jamie Rutledge combined for a block, but the Bucs were unable to inch closer as Maryland pulled out the nine-point win.

The Bucs returned the favor in the second set as ETSU never trailed and evened the match at one with a 25-18 victory. With the score tied at four, the Blue and Gold rattled off six unanswered points to go ahead, 10-4. From there, ETSU quickly pushed its lead to 10 when Rutledge and Hardy combined for a block, giving the Bucs an 18-8 advantage. The Blue and Gold eventually led by 11 at 20-9 and 21-10, and ETSU secured the win when Wiley and Rutledge connected on another block.

Unfortunately, Maryland again led the entire third set and despite a late Buccaneer rally in the fourth, ETSU fell to the Terrapins in four sets.

In the third, Maryland won 10 of the first 15 points and eventually built a nine-point lead (19-10) before taking the frame by the same margin, 25-16.

The fourth set was tight early on but with the score knotted at six, the Terrapins won four straight points to take a 10-6 advantage. Maryland eventually led by six (16-10), but strong serving by Ashleigh Shain (Geneva, Ill.) propelled the Bucs back into the set as ETSU got within one, 17-16; however the Blue and Gold couldn’t get over the hump. The Bucs were within a point on two additional possessions, but with the Terrapins ahead, 23-22, Maryland won two of the final three points to close out the match.

Maryland held ETSU to a .000 (32-32-127) attack percentage, while the Terrapins were plus-16 in kills, 48-32. The Bucs ended with a season-high eight service aces, but inconsistent play proved to be ETSU’s achilles.

The Terrapins were led by Chavi St. Hill and Hailey Murray as they combined to hit .530 (21-3-34), while Carlotta Oggioni finished with 43 assists and eight digs.

Maryland kept its unblemished record intact as the Terrapins improved to 5-0 with the win.

The Bucs continue their road swing as ETSU heads to Nashville next weekend for the Lipscomb Invitational. ETSU opens play against Utah on Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern.

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