Eureka Takes Spalding to Five Sets, Falls in Four Against Westminster

EUREKA – The Eureka volleyball team hung tough in a home triangular against St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes Spalding and Westminster on Saturday.

The Red Devils fell just short in five sets against Spalding and went down against Westminster in four.

In the first match of the day, the final scores were 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 25-27, 6-15.

After battling the Golden Eagles to within two points in the first set, the Red Devils bounced back, hit a team-best .312 and tied the match with a 25-17 win. Spalding stayed steady, however, and regained the lead with a 25-16 win. The maroon and gold then came back and edged the Golden Eagles in extra points with a 27-25 win in Set 4 to send it to a fifth and final set.

Spalding had Eureka at match point, but the home team claimed the final three points, with Megan Masching's (Pontiac, Ill./Pontiac) kill at set point clinching it. The Golden Eagles got off to a hot start in the final set, though, hitting .562 and pulling away for the win.

Freshman Frannie Heckman (Benson, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) racked up a career-high 16 kills while hitting .317. Alexis Charlton (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) followed with 10 kills, while Brooklyn Shell (Evansville, Ind./Mount Vernon), Madison Richards (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) and Daizjah Shannon (East St. Louis, Ill./Cahokia) contributed seven, six and five kills, respectively.

The team finished with 56 kills and 84 digs. Shell, Regan Reed (Flanagan, Ill./Flanagan-Cornell), Hope McGinnes (Mackinaw, Ill./Deer Creek-Mackinaw/Lincoln) and Sara Hart (Secor, Ill./Eureka) all had double-digit digs, posting 17, 16, 14 and 13, respectively.

McGinnes notched 22 assists and landed a season-high seven service aces. Hart distributed 15 assists.

Eureka (6-13, 1-7 SLIAC) will next host Webster (9-7, 4-3 SLIAC) at home on Wednesday at 7 p.m.