For Immediate Release

eureka, illinois

September 23, 2008

Red Devils dismiss 19-point loss in  3-1 victory over Fontbonne

Boxscore

The Eureka Red Devils won their third conference volleyball match in four tries Tuesday evening, 3-1 (25-17, 25-13, 6-25, 25-18) over visiting Fontbonne University.

Despite Eureka's (3-15, 3-1 SLIAC) overall success on the night, the match will perhaps be remembered for the Red Devils' ability to overcome what happened in the third set.

Fontbonne (0-8, 0-4 SLIAC), which had totaled just 13 kills against 20 errors through the first two sets, appeared to be a completely different outfit facing elimination in the third set as the Griffins won the first 18 points. Liz Johnson served 17 of the 18 points, recording four aces. The Griffins' lead eventually reached as high as 19 points at 22-3 by hitting for a .579 percentage in the set. By comparison, Fontbonne's kill percentage overall for the match was .046.

After never leading in the third, the Red Devils took back control of the match by never trailing in the fourth set. Eureka got off to a 7-2 start, then later went on a 6-0 run aided by two service aces by Marisa Durley (Roanoke, Ill./Roanoke-Benson) for a commanding 16-5 advantage. Fontbonne got as close as 20-15 before EC put an end to the Griffins' hopes of extending the match to a fifth and decisive set. Heather Myers (Eureka, Ill./HS) had five kills in eight attempts in the frame.

The opening set featured nine ties before EC took the lead for good at 16-15. That was the beginning of the end for Fontbonne as the Red Devils closed the set on a 10-2 push. Sophomore setter Kylie Bahorik (Washington, Ill./Peoria Christian) owned set two, tallying six kills and assisting on seven others. Eureka launched an 8-1 rally to take a 13-5 lead and never looked back.

Bahorik tied her career-high with 12 kills. She added 22 assists, six digs and two assisted blocks. Myers tied for team-high honors with 12 kills of her own, while also posting a double-double with 16 digs. Brittany Feger (Heyworth, Ill./HS) solidified the Eureka attack with eight kills and four blocks. Laura Willman (Metamora, Ill./HS) was in double figures in digs for the fifth straight match with 11. Kaurie Lindenmeyer (Arcola, Ill./HS) finished one off the team lead with 15 digs.

Kelley Lindsay posted a match-high 14 kills and 37 attempts for the Griffins. Liz Johnson wound up with six aces and 18 digs.

Next up for Eureka are three matches in the Red Devil Invitational to be held in the Reagan Center Saturday, Sept. 27. There will be a total of seven matches on the day between five teams beginning at 10:00 am. The Red Devils are scheduled to play Millikin University at 10:00 am, Robert Morris-Springfield at 3:00 pm and Lincoln Christian College at 5:00 pm.

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For More Information Contact:

Brian Sullivan
Sports Information Director
Eureka College
300 E. College Avenue
Eureka, Illinois 61530
309-467-6456
bsullivan@eureka.edu