SE Tripped up by ECU at GAC Tourney

Box Score HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Southeastern saw the 2013 season come to an end with a 3-0 first round loss to East Central at the Great American Conference Tournament on Thursday afternoon in Hot Springs, Ark.
 
The loss means the Savage Storm finish the season with a 13-18 record.
 
Megan Kunkel led the SE offense with 12 kills in the match, while Courtney Miller was the only other Storm player with double-digit kills at 10.  Emily Gentle finished the match with seven and Ariel Sanders had five.
 
Madelynne Cera dished out 28 assists in the match, but just missed a double-double by posting nine digs.
 
Defensively, four SE players reached double-digits in digs, led by 18 from Taylor Benner.  Kunkel and Miller each posted double-doubles with 17 and 14 digs, respectively, while Gentle added 11.
 
The Storm held a 6-to-3 edge in team blocks, led by a four block performance form Ariel Sanders.
 
The opening set was neck-and-neck the entire way, with SE finding itself down 22-21 late, but the Tigers would score three of the final four points in the set and take it 25-22.
 
ECU scored the first two points of the second set and the Storm spent the rest of the set playing catch-up, trailing by as many as 10, but they chipped away, using a five-point run late, but could not finish off the rally and fell behind 2-0 after a 25-19 loss in the second set.
 
Southeastern came out on fire to start the third set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead.  The Storm would continue to hold the lead until the Tigers finally chipped away as the steady lead and knotted the match at 17-17.
 
The teams would trade points with SE taking a 23-22 lead, but ECU would score the final three points on three-straight Storm attack errors to close out a 25-23 win in the set and a 3-0 win in the match.