The Skyhawk volleyball team fell to 0-8 in Ohio Valley Conference play with 3-0 road losses to Eastern Illinois and SEMO.

EIU remained perfect in the OVC by winning three hard-fought games against the Skyhawks.

Game one went to EIU, 30-25, as the Lady Panthers held the Skyhawks to an .029 hitting percentage and allowed them to pick up only nine kills. The Skyhawks finished the game with eight errors.

The Lady Panthers jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the game thanks to several Skyhawk errors. Their lead soon disappeared as the Skyhawks charged back to even the score at 7-7 after three consecutive EIU errors.

A Morgan Kilpatrick service ace then put the Skyhawks ahead, 8-7. The lead proved to be short-lived as EIU regrouped following a timeout to go on a 7-0 run to take the lead for good.

They built the lead to as many as 11 points before a late Skyhawk charge trimmed the lead to three points at 28-25.

After giving up the first three points of the second game, the Skyhawks pulled even and the score remained fairly close for the majority of the game.

Trailing 15-11, the Skyhawks got five consecutive points from the service game of sophomore outside hitter Jamie Hollins to claim the lead.

Once EIU pulled even, the teams entered a fierce battle for momentum, a battle won by EIU, who pulled away to lead by as many as eight points.

Once again, the Skyhawks were able to cut into the lead near the end of the game.

Sophomore setter Shelby Knose contributed two service aces to keep her team in the game in the later stages. In the end, EIU claimed a 30-26 win.

The Skyhawks were out-hit in the game, .196 to .167. The third game was the closest of all as the Skyhawks fell, 32-30 and held a game point opportunity. The Skyhawks led, 30-29, before giving up the final three points of the game.

The game got off to a rough start for the Skyhawks, who fell behind 5-1 after committing four early errors.

A streak of EIU errors allowed the Skyhawks to claim the lead briefly at 10-8 before the Lady Panthers recovered.

Neither team was able to establish control of the game until the Skyhawks built a 23-18 advantage.

The Skyhawks held the lead at five points until a late EIU run cut the lead from 28-23 to 28-27.

Sophomore middle Kathryn Sprague then racked up a kill to set up game point for the Skyhawks.

After three consecutive EIU points, a Sarah Jett kill set up another game point for the Skyhawks. The last three points of the game went to the Lady Panthers to clinch the match.

Rebecca Palmer finished Saturday’s match with 12 kills and Kathryn Sprague hit .412 but SEMO came away with the 3-0 win to improve their OVC record to 5-3.

SEMO out hit the Skyhawks, .283-.171 for the match.
The Skyhawks’ best performance came in game two when they put up a .324 hitting percentage.

The Skyhawks picked up 34 kills and 37 digs in the match. Randi Wooldridge led the team on defense with nine digs.

Shelby Knose led the team with 15 assists while Morgan Kilpatrick added 11.