West Central Reporter

Western Illinois University’s volleyball team faced Tennessee Tech in an Ohio Valley Conference match at Western Hall on Friday. The Leathernecks fell 3-0, despite several competitive stretches during the contest. The match featured 23 ties and nine lead changes.

In the first set, Ashlee Markert and Hillary Estes made early contributions with kills, while Kennedy Adair added another to keep the score close at 7-7. Cruse scored multiple points mid-set, and Lane delivered a service ace as WIU stayed within reach. Tennessee Tech pulled ahead late in the set to win 25-19.

During the second set, Western Illinois responded with kills from Cruse and Grace Kremer, who also recorded a block that tied the score at 10-10. Lane provided her second ace of the match to energize the home crowd. Although Tennessee Tech produced a late run, WIU continued to challenge with more kills from Adair and Markert before losing the set 25-18.

The third set saw Western Illinois take an early lead behind an ace from Adair and consecutive kills by Cruse. Alysia Perez and Jaleah Bauss worked together to assist Kremer for points at the net. Lane’s late ace brought WIU within three points at 22-19, but Tennessee Tech secured both the set (25-20) and the match.

The Leathernecks will continue their conference play against SIUE on October 3rd and 4th.

For updates on Western Illinois Volleyball, fans can visit GoLeathernecks.com or follow team accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.