MIDWAY, Ky. - A rough opening set was too much for Midway to overcome, as the Eagles never led in a 25-10, 25-22, 25-17 River States volleyball loss to West Virginia Tech Friday night.

After winning the opening set by 15, the Bears seemed poised to dominant the second in similar fashion after Ana Muniz Rocandio opened it with three consecutive services aces.

But the Eagles managed to respond, battling back to even the score at 14 on a kill by Emily Slaughter. Midway also forced ties at 16 and 17 and even managed three straight points off a timeout to make it 21-21, but was never able to grab the lead before Tech pulled away for a two-set advantage.

Very little momentum appeared to carry over into set three, unfortunately. Midway was able to force a 5-5 tie on an Aubry Koester kill, only for the Bears to score the next three points as they held a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

Slaughter and Koester tied for the team lead with nine kills and five digs for Midway, which falls back below .500 at 8-9 with a 2-7 mark in conference play. Marinna Liedle chipped in a team-best 12 assists.

The Eagles have a very quick turnaround, as they will be back home for another RSC match against Rio Grande at noon Saturday.

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