Eureka Comes Up Short Against Fontbonne, Blackburn

EUREKA – The Eureka volleyball team came up short in a pair of St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference matchups at Christine Bonati Bollwinkle Arena on Friday.

In the afternoon, the Red Devils dropped a 3-0 contest against Fontbonne, and in the evening Blackburn held off EC in three sets, as well. In between, Blackburn stunned Fontbonne in three sets to make it a day of sweeps.

Fontbonne 3, Eureka 0

The final scores of the sets of the day were

Eureka's Payton Florine (Galesburg, Ill./Abingdon-Avon/Lincon) put down four kills, Hope McGinnes (Mackinaw, Ill./Deer Creek-Mackinaw/Lincoln) tallied seven assists and seven digs, and Jurnee Flournoy (Decatur, Ill./Decatur MacArthur) notched seven digs as well.

Eureka hit a team-best .125 in the second set, but Fontbonne recorded a .308 hitting percentage in the second set and hit .299 overall.

Hannah Gallagher led the Griffins with 10 kills while hitting .529 and Paige Rowland added eight kills while hitting .333.

Blackburn 3, Eureka 0

The Red Devils and the Beavers were neck-and-neck for much of the first set. After bouncing back from a slow start, the home team used a three-point swing to tie it up at 20-20, but Blackburn claimed five of the last seven points and win it, 25-22.

Eureka stayed competitive in the last two sets, but the Beavers maintained control the rest of the way.

The final scores were 25-22, 25-28, 25-17.

Halle Gauna (Arcola, Ill./Arcola/Lincoln Trail College) notched a team-high seven kills, while Madison Richards (Princeton, Ill./Princeton) followed with six kills, a solo block and a block assist to finish with a team-high 7.5 points.

Brittney Mekelburg (Johnstown, Colo./Roosevelt/St. Andrews) posted five kills. McGinnes distributed nine assists, while Flournoy and Alexis Charlton (Eureka, Ill./Eureka) both finished with double-digit digs, recording 11 and 10, respectively.

Up Next

On Tuesday at 7 p.m., Eureka (3-20) will face Monmouth (10-12) in non-conference action on the road.