West Central Reporter

The Western Illinois University Leathernecks women's volleyball team opened their season with a loss to the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Friday at the Renaissance Coliseum in Macomb, Illinois. The match ended in three sets, all closely contested.

In the first set, both teams traded points until Quinnipiac took a 10-9 lead. Kiyah Franklin's kill tied it at 10, and Elizabeth Ziegler evened the score again at 17-17. Kennedy Adair gave Western Illinois a brief lead at 19-18 before Keyana Cruse contributed two kills for a 23-21 advantage. However, Quinnipiac responded with a four-point run to take the set 25-23.

The second set saw Western Illinois jump ahead early with a 7-2 lead after kills from Adair, Cruse, Franklin, and Hillary Estes. Quinnipiac came back to tie it at 13-13. The teams remained close until late in the set when Cruse and Grace Kremer helped tie it again at 22-22. Ultimately, Quinnipiac edged out Western Illinois to win the set 27-25.

Western Illinois gained another mid-set advantage in the third frame as Cruse and Ziegler combined for a 14-10 lead. The Bobcats managed to tie things up at 21 apiece before closing out the match by winning the final set 26-24 despite late efforts from Cruse and Franklin.

Keyana Cruse led all players with 15 kills and posted a .371 hitting percentage for Western Illinois. Kennedy Adair added seven kills and collected 13 digs. As a team, Western Illinois hit .233 while holding Quinnipiac to .212. Defensively, they tallied 12 blocks—Estes led with four—and gathered a total of 55 digs, with Grace Ulatowski leading at 18.

Western Illinois will continue play in the Bradley Tournament on Saturday against UT Arlington Lady Mavericks and Bradley Braves.