SATURDAY’S SCORES
Austin Peay 3, @Tennessee State 1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 27-25)
Eastern Illinois 3, @Southeast Missouri 2 (25-18, 13-25, 20-25, 25-17, 15-0)
@UT Martin 3, SIUE 2 (27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13)
@Morehead State 3, Jacksonville State 2 (25-14, 25-13, 26-28, 23-25, 15-13)
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Tennessee tech 2 (23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 23-25, 15-12)
AUSTIN PEAY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University's volleyball team ended a brief two-match losing streak with a four-set (21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 27-25) Ohio Valley Conference victory against Tennessee State, Saturday at Kean Hall.
Austin Peay (14-14, 8-5 OVC West) took advantage of an error-prone Tennessee State squad to pick up the win. The Lady Govs trailed by a 59-54 margin in kills but the Tigers committed a staggering 29 attack errors while APSU recorded only 16 attack miscues.
Tennessee State (14-11, 8-4 OVC East) scored its Set 1 victory thanks to a 20-kill performance while it committed only six errors. However, Austin Peay romped in Set 2 thanks to a comparatively clean 13-kill, two-error performance as TSU's offense was held to 10 kills and seven errors.
The Tigers jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set but could not hold on. Austin Peay used a 7-1 run to take an 8-5 lead and would not look back. The fourth set was the most competitive of the match with nine ties and three lead changes. The Lady Govs held the advantage but could not build a lead to avoid overtime, but back-to-back Tennessee State errors gave APSU the 27-25 victory.
Sophomore Jada Stotts led Austin Peay with 16 kills and a .220 attack percentage. Senior Nikkir Doyle finished with only 14 kills – ending a streak of four straight 20-kill performances – but notched a .297 attack percentage. Sophomore Hillary Plybon added 12 kills. Sophomore setter Cami Fields had 47 assists on APSU's 54 kills.
Tennessee State's Naomi Wells led all hitters with 21 kills and a .372 attack percentage. Rachel Ambroch added 16 kills and Lindsay Hornsby chipped in 11 kills.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team dropped a 3-2 (18-25, 25-13, 25-20, 17-25, 10-15) decision to Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon at Houck Field House. The defeat marked the Redhawks first loss to a team in the Ohio Valley Conference West Division.
The Loss drops the Redhawks to 17-11 overall and 9-3 in the OVC as the Panthers improve to 8-18 and 5-7 in the conference.
Junior Julie Shives led the Redhawks with 41 assists on the afternoon with a season-high 20 digs defensively.
The Panthers took the first frame 25-18 as they hit a match-high .368 with 17 kills. The Redhawks hit a modest .226 in the set, but only recorded 11 kills.
Southeast jumped out to an impressive 5-1 lead in the second frame on thier way to a 25-13 route of the Panthers. Southeast forced nine errors by EIU. The Redhawks added three blocks in the frame with Taylor Masterson adding a hand in each block.
The Redhawks took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-20 win in the third frame. The Redhawks recorded a match-high 14 kills in the frame as they forced seven errors by the Panthers in the set.
EIU battled back aggressively in the final two sets of the match. The Panthers took the fourth set 25-20. They closed out the frame on a 6-1 run.
In the fifth frame the Redhawks looked to be in control, but a 7-0 run by the Panthers gave them the match 15-10 after trailing 10-8.
Colleen Yarber paced the Redhawks offense with 18 kills on the afternoon. She also added 15 digs.
Masterson finished with nine kills and a game-high five blocks.
Reynae Hutchinson led all players with 21 kills and 22 digs on the afternoon.
UT MARTIN 3, SIUE 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - Amanda Crask compiled the second triple-double in The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball history this afternoon to push the Skyhawks past visiting SIU Edwardsville 3-2 (27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13) at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
A freshman setter out of Louisville, Ky., Crask needed only the first three sets to reach her triple-double before ending her afternoon with 40 assists, 15 kills and 17 digs. She also hit .407 (only four errors in 27 attempts) to go along with her career-high totals in the kills and digs column. She joins fellow Skyhawk setter Jenna Miller (42 assists, 10 kills, 18 digs against Jacksonville State on Oct. 10, 2011) as the only other player in program history to amass a triple-double.
Emily Keaton tied Crask with a match-high 15 kills to go along with10 digs for UT Martin (10-16, 6-6 Ohio Valley Conference). Allie Whimpey also added a season-high 13 kills for the Skyhawks while Shelby Hoskins added 10 kills.
Senior Kasey Elswick registered her first career double-double, scooping up 25 digs to go along with 14 assists. Taylor Simons also tied a career-high with 13 digs to help lead UT Martin defensively.
The Skyhawks trailed 5-3 in the first set before running off five straight points, capped off by back-to-back kills by Keaton. Two more kills by Keaton ignited a 4-0 run for UT Martin, who as a result opened up a 16-11 lead. After SIU Edwardsville got back within two points, two straight kills by Simons and Whimpey made the score 20-15 in favor of the Skyhawks. However, a late 6-1 run gave the Cougars a 24-23 lead. The Skyhawks fought off game point twice and ended the set with three straight points, capped off by another Keaton kill.
Keaton’s six kills paced UT Martin in the first set, while Simons (four kills, .429 attack percentage) and Crask (six digs) also performed well for the Skyhawks.
UT Martin used an early 4-0 run to take an 8-3 lead in the second set. The Cougars got within two at 9-7 before four different Skyhawks slammed down kills to help UT Martin unreel five straight points. After SIU Edwardsville once again sliced its deficit to two (15-13), Whimpey accounted for two straight kills to help the Skyhawks to an 18-13 advantage. Crask was responsible for three kills out of UT Martin’s last five points to close out the set.
As a team, UT Martin hit a whopping .500 in the second set (21 kills against three errors in 36 attempts). Crask was a perfect 6-for-6 to go along with 11 assists in the set, while Jackie Harter and Whimpey each accounted for five kills apiece in the set.
SIU Edwardsville scored the first seven points of the third set before a kill from Hoskins got UT Martin on the scoreboard. The Skyhawks put together a 7-1 run to even the score at 10-10 off a kill by Simons. The Cougars answered with four straight points but a Keaton kill eventually brought UT Martin back within one at 16-15. A service ace by Elswick evened the score at 20-all and after the score was tied 21-21, SIU Edwardsville ended the set on a 4-1 run.
Hoskins and Whimpey each had four kills apiece with zero errors between them in the third set, while Elswick led the defense with 10 digs.
The Cougars led 6-3 to begin the fourth set but UT Martin eventually tied the match at 10-all thanks to a kill by Crask. The Skyhawks took their first lead of the set at 12-11 thanks to a Harter kill, but SIU Edwardsville answered with four straight points. An assisted block by Dallas Zimmerman and Whimpey pulled the Skyhawks within one at 15-14 but SIU Edwardsville took off from there, eventually leading by five points (23-18 and 24-19) before forcing a fifth set.
UT Martin began the decisive fifth set on a 7-1 run, but five straight points by SIU Edwardsville quickly closed the gap. Simons registered a kill to make the score 8-6, but the Cougars once again responded with a run – this time scoring four straight points to go on top by a 10-8 margin. SIU Edwardsville led 12-10 before Keaton heated up in a big way – slamming down kills on three straight possessions to singlehandedly give UT Martin a 13-12 lead. The Cougars evened the score on the next possession but Keaton came back with yet another kill, followed by a SIU Edwardsville attack error that sealed the victory for the Skyhawks.
Keaton was responsible for four of UT Martin’s nine kills in the shortened fifth set, while Elswick piled up six digs.
SIUE's defense turned in 11 blocks, including six from Kelsey Augustine and four from Kristen Torre. The Cougars hit .199 for the match behind 12 kills from Emma Anderson and 11 from Augustine.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky downed Tennessee Tech, 3-2, on Saturday. Seniors Kelsey Kuehner, Toni Michalski and Jessica Mueller were honored in a pregame ceremony.
EKU won by scores of 23-25, 25-18, 26-24, 23-25 and 15-12.
Kuehner contributed 16 kills, five digs and four blocks on Senior Day. Michalski had four blocks and three kills. Junior Ashley Edmond led all players with 20 kills. Dena Ott had a match-best 28 digs.
Kelsey Gray led Tech (2-22, 0-12 OVC) with 12 kills.
The Colonels (8-15, 5-7 OVC) had a five-point lead in the first set, 19-14, before the Golden Eagles used an 8-3 run to tie the score 22-22. A kill by Gray and an EKU attack error completed the TTU comeback and gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.
After rolling to a seven-point win in the second set, Eastern Kentucky came from behind to win the third set. Tennessee Tech led 23-22 but the Colonels tied it with a kill from Edmond and then tied it again at 24-24 on another kill by the junior. Rachel Vick’s kill gave EKU set-point and a TTU ball handling error finished it off.
Tech used another comeback in the fourth set to stay alive. Eastern had a 16-11 lead but the Golden Eagles chipped away and tied the score at 21-21. An EKU attack error made it 23-22 in favor of TTU. A kill by Elise Robertson finished off the set and tied the match.
With the score tied 11-11 in the fifth set, Eastern Kentucky scored three straight on kills by Alexis Plagens, Marissa Tashenberg and Edmond to build a cushion. Moments later a kill by setter Mallori Moffat ended the match.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State's volleyball team was pushed to the limit by Jacksonville State Saturday at Wetherby Gym, but the Ohio Valley Conference leaders found just enough to top the Gamecocks in a five-set affair. MSU won the first two sets, 25-14 and 25-13, before dropping the next two in close fashion, 28-26 and 25-23. The hosts won the deciding frame 15-13.
MSU extended its nationally-ranked winning streak to 18 matches and improved to 20-6 overall and 12-0 in the OVC. The Eagles secured the program's seventh straight 20-win campaign. JSU, which also lost 3-2 to MSU just two weeks ago, dipped to 12-14 overall and 6-6 in the league. The contest featured 39 ties and 12 lead swaps.
Senior right side attacker Ellie Roberson paced a 69-kill day for the Eagles with a team-high 17 put-aways. Four other Eagles, senior middle blocker Annie Gruenschlaeger (14), junior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon (13), freshman outside hitter Courtney Smith (11) and sophomore middle blocker Laura McDermott (10) also dotted double figures in the kill column.
The Eagles also saw five players reach double digits in digs as they out-dueled JSU in digs, 95-88. Bohannon had a season-high 21 ups, while junior libero Leslie Schellhaas totaled 19. Sophomore setter Colbey Cameron produced a season-best 14, while senior setter Caitlin Clark completed her 10th double-double of the year with 55 assists and 12 digs. Junior defensive specialist Lindsey Roth had 10 digs. MSU had 10 blocks, led by five from Gruenschlaeger.
Emily Rutherford and Jen Meyer slammed 15 kills each to lead the Gamecocks, who had 54 spikes as a team. Rutherford completed the double-double performance with 16 digs. Kelsey Anderson paced all players with 30 digs. Alina Agamy also had a double-double with 44 assists and 15 digs.
MSU tallied 32 kills and hit better than .300 in cruising to a 2-0 lead. The Eagle defense limited JSU to only 16 kills and a .000 attack efficiency in the first two stanzas.
MSU nearly had the match wrapped up in three sets. Leading 24-23 in the third, Rutherford swatted an attempt that was ruled out of bounds at first before MSU was ruled for a touch. The lead changed hands twice before the Gamecocks finished it off with the final two tallies.
The Eagles led 13-10 in the fourth, but a 9-2 JSU run gave the visitors the lead they never relinquished. MSU tied it at 23 on a Smith kill, but Meyer and Rutherford closed the deal with back-to-back spikes.
The fifth set appeared to be in JSU's favor too as it took a 12-9 advantage. But, the Eagles scored the next five via three JSU attack errors and a pair of Gamecock ball-handling miscues.
Morehead State hit .221 on the day and limited JSU to .147.