Eureka Falls on the Road Against Unbeaten Franklin

FRANKLIN, Ind. – The Eureka women's volleyball team continued its road stretch on Wednesday night, falling in straight sets to Franklin, 25-13, 25-20, and 25-15.

The Grizzlies (3-0) stayed unbeaten on the season with a dominant serving performance, recording 18 aces in the match to outpace the Red Devils (0-4). A quick service ace by Kaitlyn Lavy opened the match, but Eureka responded with a point off a Franklin service error to even the score. The two sides traded points early, but Franklin broke away midway through the set behind a run of four straight aces from Brionna Linkel. Eureka struggled to regain rhythm, despite kills by Brooklyn Shell (Evansville, Ind./Mount Vernon) and Alyssa Company (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln Community), and the Grizzlies took the first set 25-13.

Set two was Eureka's most competitive of the evening. After falling behind 4-1, the Red Devils fought back with a service ace from Company and a kill by Colbie Grieff (South Wilmington, Ill./Gardner South-Wilmington) to tie the score at 8-8. Back-to-back service aces from Lexi Liaromatis (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) gave Eureka a brief 11-10 lead. However, Franklin capitalized on Red Devil miscues, including two attack errors and another ace by Linkel, to swing the momentum. A late ace from Cloee O'Donoghue (Emden, Ill./Hartsburg-Emden) kept Eureka within reach, but the Grizzlies closed out the set 25-20 with another ace from Lavy.

Franklin pulled away early in the third set with two more aces from Lavy, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Eureka answered with a pair of kills by Company and Shell to cut the deficit to one, but the Grizzlies again found success behind the service line, with aces from Jayde Billings and Leah Middleton pushing their lead to 14-6. The Red Devils mounted a late 5-point rally with kills from Grieff and Bre Dixon (Newark, Ill./Newark Community), narrowing the gap to 14-13. Still, Franklin finished strong, riding kills from McKenzie Schroeder and Lavy to seal the match with a 25-15 final set.

Company led Eureka offensively with six kills and one service ace. Claire Schaffner (Delavan, Ill./Delavan) added six assists, while Kaitlyn Robinson (Macomb, Ill./Macomb) tallied five digs and three assists. Liaromatis chipped in two service aces and two digs on the night.

Up Next

The Red Devils will look to bounce back in their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 6. Eureka will face Rockford at 10:00 a.m. and Beloit at 2:00 p.m.