Eastern volleyball team swept by Skyhawks Sunday

Eastern+freshman+libero+Christina+Martinez+Mundo+lunges+to+her+left+to+receive+a+serve+against+Morehead+State+Feb.+7+in+Lantz+Arena.

Adam Tumino | The Daily Eastern News

Eastern freshman libero Christina Martinez Mundo lunges to her left to receive a serve against Morehead State Feb. 7 in Lantz Arena.

Adam Tumino, Editor-in-Chief

The Eastern volleyball team dropped its fifth-straight match to begin the season Sunday, losing 3-0 to Tennessee-Martin on the road.

Eastern is one of three teams in the OVC to no have a win so far this season. Tennessee-Martin, which had their two matches last week postponed due to weather, improved to 2-1 on the season.

The first set was the closest of the game for the Panthers, who dropped the opening set 25-23.

Their hitting percentage in the set was .121, their highest in the match.

Redshirt-junior outside hitter Kylie Michael led the way for the Panthers in the first set, recording 6 kills with just 2 attack errors on 14 total attacks, good for a hitting percentage of .286.

The Skyhawks hit .243 in the first set.

In each remaining set, the Panthers’ hitting percentage got lower and the Skyhawks’ got higher, and the scores reflected this trend.

The second set was 25-17 in favor of the Skyhawks and the third was won by Tennessee-Martin 25-13.

Eastern hit .091 in the second and -..027 in the final set. The Skyhawks hit .312 in the second set and .378 in the third.

Despite the team’s struggles, Michael played well throughout the match.

She led both teams with 14 kills and 17 points, both being new season highs for her, and hit .303 in the match.

Freshman libero Christina Martinez Mundo set a new career high with 13 digs to lead the team. Michael finished second on the team with 11 digs to record her first-double-double this season.

Junior setter Bailey Chandler recorded 23 assists in the match, 10 of which came in the first set.

Junior outside hitter Addison Conley led the Skyhawks with 10 kills and 10 points.

Junior middle blocker Karen Scanlon recorded 9 kills without an attack error for the Skyhawks, recording a hitting percentage of .643.

Senior setter Kenzie Hinshaw led all players with 35 assists in the match and freshman libero Baillie Kearns had 14 digs to lead both teams.

These two teams play the second match of their two-match series Monday at 2:15 p.m.

 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].