The Leathernecks fall to Omaha in just three sets (25-16, 25-19, 25-21) on Monday.
During the first set, Omaha came out aggressively as their high powered offense took over the game. Omaha overwhelmed the Leathernecks and held them to just 16 points. Sophomore Mariah Mitchell earned half of the Leatherneck points during the first set but it wasn’t enough to put them over the top.
The Leathernecks took their first lead of the match at 3-2 during the second set. Omaha fought their way back into the game by scoring six straight points to tie the Leatherneck with an early score of 8-8. The Leathernecks worked hard to keep Omaha from extending their lead, but the Mavericks offense overpowered the Leathernecks towards the end of the second set.
The Leathernecks went into the third set down 2-0 to Omaha. Junior Makenzie Steckler started the third set with a service ace to put WIU on top. With the third set being intense, the Leathernecks stood their ground and went on a four-point run to tie the game 18-18. Unfortunately, the Leathernecks couldn’t keep the lead, as Omaha’s high powered defense sealed the deal by keeping the Leathernecks at 21 points.
Areas the Leathernecks went wrong was as a team, they put up a total of 28 kills compared to Omaha who put up 48 total kills. Also, WIU only had 28 total assists against Omaha Mavericks who had a total of 48 assists. The leathernecks need to move the ball around more and get more aggressive on the scoring tip. Highlighted players from Western are Mitchell as led the team with ten kills, followed by Senior JoJo Kruize with seven kills.
The Leathernecks will return home to host South Dakota on Friday (Nov. 15).