Friday's volleyball action saw Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri secure sweeps, while Lindenwood and UT Martin won by 3-1 scores.
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois earns its first OVC sweep of the season after firing off a 3-0-win against Tennessee State. Last season, the Panthers totaled seven series sweeps. With the win, EIU improves to 5-14 (4-4 OVC), while the Tigers fall to 0-17 (0-6 OVC).
The Panthers began the match with little resistance from the Tigers, doubling up TSU 10-5. EIU continued the fiery start, holding a 15-6 advantage heading into the media timeout. With Katie Kopshever missing in action, the sophomore, Jorah Rutter, stepped up in her absence, leading the match with 10 kills. After the break, Alana Guibert paced the Panthers the rest of the way, totaling six of her seven blocks in the first set. Guibert's seven blocks mark a career-high after totaling five earlier this season. Holding the Tigers to a –0.16 hitting percentage, EIU faced no trouble, winning 25-9.
Using an early 6-0 scoring run, the Panthers wasted no time jumping out in front, leading 15-9. Moments later, Abana Teran lasered a right-side kill to expand the lead to six (20-14). Heading into the late stages of the match, the Tigers charged for a late rally, closing the deficit to within two, led by multiple Panther miscues. However, Mckenna Morton cut the run short, with a kill to end set two, winning 25-21. Morton played the entire match, recording seven kills.
Both teams traded points to open the closing set, with the scored knotted a 10 apiece. The Tigers held their first media timeout lead of the weekend, holding a narrow 15-13 command. Trailing 17-14, the Panthers turned the ship around, scoring four unanswered points. After a TSU point, EIU rattled off another long run, scoring six straight, led by Rutter and Guibert. Reaching set point, Rutter closed the match with her 10th kill of the night. She has now recorded back-to-back double-digit kills in matches and four in the season.
Hannah Hawkins directed the Panthers offense with 15 assists, while Alanys Nieves produced 12 assists. Nieves collected three of the Panthers' six service aces. Along with Guibert defensively, Ariadna Pereles led the way with a match-best 10 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Southeast Missouri defeated Morehead St. 3-0 on Friday, taking the sets 25-18, 25-23, 25-14. The Redhawks hit .286 with 42 kills and seven aces while holding Morehead St. to a .139 hitting percentage.
SEMO (13-7, 6-1 OVC) erased a 12-9 deficit with eight straight points, moving ahead 17-12 after a Reagan Nelson kill and seven consecutive service points with Nelson at the line. Lucy Arndt, Alaina Lester and Katherine St. John added kills during that stretch, while Southeast Missouri also benefited from two Morehead St. attack errors. The Redhawks closed out the opening set 25-18.
SEMO flipped the second set after falling behind 16-14, using a six-point surge to move in front 20-16. Nina Schuberth served five straight points during the run, with Nelson putting down three kills and Schuberth adding an ace. Morehead St. (7-10, 3-4 OVC) cut the margin to 24-23, but Arndt finished the set with a kill from Megan Holder for a 25-23 Southeast Missouri win.
The Redhawks turned an early 2-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead, moving ahead on Katy St. John's kill and later getting Lucy Arndt's kill plus consecutive Harper Highfill service aces. The visitors kept adding points at the net, including blocks involving Katarina Miscevic with Katy St. John or Marin Johnson, before Reagan Nelson's kill made it 24-14. A final Morehead St. attack error, blocked by Miscevic and St. John, gave SEMO the set 25-14.
LINDENWOOD 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (16-3, 6-1 OVC) pounced back into the win column with a 3-1 win over Southern Indiana (7-10, 2-3 OVC) at Hyland Arena on Friday evening.
The Lions never trailed through the contest's first two sets, holding off the Screaming Eagles 25-21 in the opening frame before sprinting to a dominant 25-16 in the second set. After the first two frames, Susanna Beretti and Kylee Richey were already in double digit kills with 10 terminations apiece, with Lauren Ortwerth trailing closely behind with nine kills.
Lindenwood fell behind for the first time at the beginning of the third set, and despite overcoming the early deficit and holding three separate two-point advantages in the set, were unable to complete the sweep as USI outlasted the Lions in extra points for a 27-25 win that extended the match.
However, the Lions regrouped for a strong fourth set performance, leading the frame by as many as seven points before eventually claiming a decisive 25-19 victory to clinch the match.
Kylee Richey had a strong night in the middle for Lindenwood, racking up 13 kills on a .409 attack percentage while adding seven blocks for season highs in both categories.
Lauren Ortwerth matched Richey with 13 kills while Susanna Beretti ended the night with12 kills on a .333 hitting percentage.
Meanwhile, Ashley Geluck turned in another strong performance with 11 kills on a team-leading .478 hitting percentage, while Autumn Bax also reached double digits with 10 terminations in the match.
Kaci Johnson handed out 54 assists – her second highest total in a single match this season – as Lindenwood finished the match with a team hitting percentage of .310, eclipsing the .300 mark for the seventh time this season.
Johnson also led the team with 15 digs for a double-double, her seventh of the season, while Dana Grib anchored the LU back row with 14 digs.
UT MARTIN 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 1
MACOMB, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team started its Ohio Valley Conference road series at Western Illinois on the right foot tonight, defeating the Leathernecks by a 3-1 margin (25-20, 25-23, 22-25, 25-17).
Rylee Key led the way for the Skyhawk offense with a career-high 12 kills on a .296 hitting percentage while Maddy Gladson also reached double-digits in the kill column (10). Dylan Sulcer operated UT Martin's offense with 37 assists and a season-best seven kills on a .600 attack percentage while also contributing seven digs.
On the defensive end, Lauren Mariscal racked up a match-high 20 digs while Luli Arcucci (10 digs) and Carly Mueller (team-best three blocks) also pitched in as Western Illinois was held to a .129 hitting percentage.
The Skyhawks (8-10, 3-4 OVC) scored four of the first six points but the Leathernecks scored four unanswered to take their first lead of the night. Service aces from Abby Freund and Arcucci nudged UT Martin back on top before the score was knotted at 16-all. A kill by Mueller immediately followed and the Skyhawks did not relinquish their lead from there, ending the opening set on a 9-4 surge. Sulcer (10 assists) and Mariscal (six digs) led UT Martin in the first set.
The second set featured a lengthy Skyhawk comeback as UT Martin trailed by a 19-15 margin before storming back to take a 2-0 advantage in the match. The Skyhawks led 5-2 early before Western Illinois took its first lead of the set at 11-10. At the conclusion of a 12-5 Leatherneck run, UT Martin got back in it and eventually ended the set with three unanswered points, ignited by a Mueller kill before a Western Illinois attack error and bad set. Key had four kills on eight swings (.500 attack percentage) to pace the Skyhawks in the second stanza.
After UT Martin led 4-1 to begin the third set, the Leathernecks went on a 10-0 run to temporarily shift momentum. Back-to-back service aces by Penny Kirkham helped spur a Skyhawk comeback as UT Martin eventually took an 18-17 advantage following a Riley Rushing kill. The Skyhawks led as late as 22-21 but Western Illinois avoided a sweep with four unanswered points to wrap up the set. Rushing and Gladson shared the team lead with three kills apiece in the third set.
The lead never changed hands in the fourth set as Key had three kills during a hot 6-1 UT Martin start. Kills on consecutive rallies by Arcucci and Gladson helped the Skyhawks build a 15-7 lead but the Leathernecks eventually shaved their deficit to two points at 18-16. However, that was as close as they would get the rest of the way as Sulcer owned a pair of late kills – including the match-clincher. Sulcer had four kills on a whopping .600 hitting percentage with 11 assists in the final set alone.