With Power and Speed, Greenville Sweeps EC Volleyball, 3-0
GREENVILLE, Ill. – The Eureka volleyball team struggled to slow down one of the top teams in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Tuesday evening, falling to Greenville on the road in three quick sets.
In just over an hour, the Panthers secured a 25-13, 25-11, 25-11 sweep to improve to 2-0 on the season while EC fell to 0-2.
However, junior Emma Harris (Streator, Ill./Streator) made a rather strong first impression in her collegiate volleyball debut for the Red Devils. A defender for the Eureka women's soccer team, Harris joined the volleyball team this winter after transferring from MacMurray this past fall. On Tuesday, she delivered a team-high eight kills for the maroon and gold while hitting .138 and contributing eight digs.
Freshman Regan Reed (Flanagan, Ill./Flanagan-Cornell), who posted a team-high seven kills in her EC debut over the weekend, added four, along with a team-high 10 digs.
Corinne Deboard (Centralia, Ill./Christ Our Rock Lutheran) and Katelin Peters (New Berlin, Ill./New Berlin) each had three kills, while Faith Catour (Orion, Ill./Orion) distributed 18 assists. DeBoard and Megan Masching (Pontiac, Ill./Pontiac) both had seven digs, and libero Jordyn Fox (Pontiac, Ill./Pontiac) notched four digs, as well as two aces for the second straight match.
On the other side of the net, the Panthers flexed with power and speed, showing off an impressive array of skills all the way around. The home team hit .421 on the night and racked up 59 digs.
Anna Finch tallied a match-high 15 kills for Greenville. Amanda Hollis also reached double figures with 11, and Jasmin Smith contributed nine.
Setter Jordan Lempa moved the ball around and chalked up 41 assists on the night. In the back row, Chastity Hill (17 digs), Gretchen Bond (12) and Smith (11) all reached double figures in digs.
The Red Devils' best stretch of the evening was the beginning of the second set when they kept it close and led by a couple points, up to 7-5. That changed when the Panthers came roaring back with six straight points to take an 11-7 lead. Leading by four, they ripped off another 6-0 run and ultimately cruised to a 25-11 finish.
Despite serving cleanly and only missing three serves on the night, Eureka fell into early holes in the first and third sets, and just weren't able to make them competitive.
On Friday, the Red Devils (0-2) will host Spalding (0-1) for a 6 p.m. SLIAC showdown at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena and Convocation Center. The Golden Eagles lost to Greenville in four sets in their season opener last Friday.