The Muskingum volleyball team battled and faced a tough Mount Union squad at the Anne C. Steele Center on Tuesday night, falling in straight sets 3-0 (25-23, 26-24, 25-23).

The Basics

• Muskingum now stands at 17-4 overall and 4-2 in the OAC. 
• Mount Union is 21-3 overall, 5-1 in the OAC.
• The Muskies visit 21st-ranked Ohio Northern on Saturday, October 21. The match is slated for 4:00 p.m.

Notables

• With the loss, Muskingum is now in fourth place in the OAC, but they are just one game back from the top of the leader board. Otterbein, Ohio Northern, and Mount Union are tied for first place in the OAC with 5-1 records. The top four teams at the end of the regular season will host an OAC Tournament game.
• The Muskies received votes in the latest AVCA Top 25 Poll that was released today. Mount Union also received AVCA Top 25 votes this week as well.
• The last time the Muskies lost to the Purple Raiders was during the 2015 campaign.

How It Happened

• Errors hurt the Muskies in set one (23-25), set two slipped pasted MU (24-26), and Muskingum battled hard in set three, but fell (25-23).
• Courtney Nestoff led the backline with 19 digs.
• Brooke Fatheree paced the offense with 16 kills, averaged 16.5 points-per-set, and added 10 digs.
• Taylor Fatheree tallied 12 kills, two digs, and pounded in three total blocks.
• Chloe Brandewie contributed nine kills, added six digs, and created one service ace.
• Jordan Youngs and Madison Sikorski each chipped in eight digs.
• Erin Dickson tossed in 35 assists.

Inside The Sets

• The Muskies were neck-and-neck with the Purple Raiders at the end of set one, 23-23, but back-to-back errors by Muskingum gave Mount Union set one, 25-23.
• Muskingum looked poised to tie the match with a 24-22 lead in set two. However, Mount Union fended off two set points and scored the final four points of the set to rally past the Muskies, 26-24.
• In the third frame, Mount Union erased an early deficit en route to building a 19-15 lead. Muskingum fought back and trimmed its gap to 20-19 and the Muskies had several chances to tie the contest but Mount Union held strong and secured the 25-23 straight-set win.