Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Smith led Morehead State with 15 kills and hit .364 as the Eagle volleyball team swept Rutgers 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-20) Friday afternoon (September 20) at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse to open the Pittsburgh Panther Invitational.
MSU improved to 7-4 with its third consecutive victory. The Scarlet Knights, who are competing in the new American Athletic Conference, fell to 3-9.
Smith tied her season-high in kills and reached double digits for the sixth time this season. She made only three attack miscues on a team-high 33 attempts. She also totaled three aces and two blocks, including a pair of solo rejections.
Senior libero Leslie Schellhaas compiled a team-best 18 digs. The Eagles had a season-best five solo blocks and tallied six total blocks as a unit.
The Eagles held advantages in kills (37-30), aces (7-2) and digs (53-51) and limited the Knights to just a .120 hitting efficiency. MSU leads the Ohio Valley Conference in lowest opponent hitting percentage.
Rutgers got a team-high nine kills from Alex Lassa. It marked the second straight match an opponent failed to have a player in double digit kills and the third time this season. The match featured just five lead changes.
MSU continues the tournament against Ivy League foe Cornell at 4 p.m.
