NEW ALBANY, Ind. -- After having the last week off from competition to begin preparing for the most important part of their season, the Midway University women's volleyball team opened River States Conference play on Friday with a road trip to Indiana University Southeast.
The Eagles had four set points in the opening stanza, but they were unable to close things out as IU Southeast won the opening frame 29-27. The home squad would carry that momentum over into sets two and three en route to the 3-0 victory (29-27, 25-10, 25-21).
The visitors didn't get off to the best of starts in the opening set trailing 16-12, but a 5-0 run saw the Eagles take a 17-16 lead. Brinley Griswold (Ashland, Ky.) kickstarted the run with a kill before Brooke Trompler (Campton, Ky.) added back-to-back kills and Alysha Tullar (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) served up an ace.
The Blue and Gold would continue to hold a steady two-point lead before serving for set point at 24-22. Midway, however, didn't do themselves any favors with a service error giving the Grenadiers new life.
Midway also had set points at 25-24 and 27-26, but another service error would propel the home team into a 3-0 run to claim the opening set 29-27. Service errors plagued the Eagles in the opening stanza with six.
The Grenadiers carried the momentum from the first set into the second set as they blitzed the Eagles with a 9-1 lead en route to claiming a 2-0 lead in the match with the 25-10 victory.
Midway once again found themselves trailing early in the third set facing a six points deficit, but they cut it to 17-14 after back-to-back kills from Trompler. IU Southeast, however, would cruise to the 25-21 victory in the third set and a 3-0 victory in the match.
Trompler and Tullar led the offensive attack for the Eagles with 13 kills apiece, while adding eight and six digs, respectively. Tullar also chipped in t a .209 hitting clip with her stat line.
Madi Eberst (Chillicothe, Ohio) ran the offense and finished with 27 assists, to go with five digs. Ashlee Simpson (Somerset, Ky.) and Krissy Cummins (Frankfort, Ky.) added six digs apiece.
Midway – who falls to 6-6 overall and 0-1 in league play – returns to action on Saturday afternoon with a trip to Brescia (Ky.). First serve is set for 1 p.m. ET in Owensboro.
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