SATURDAY’S SCORES
Austin Peay 3, @UT Martin 0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21)
Jacksonville State 3, @Tennessee State 1 (26-24, 25-10, 15-25, 25-18)
@Southeast Missouri 3, Murray State 0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-17)
@Morehead State 3, SIUE 1, (25-21, 25-17, 18-25, 25-22)
@Eastern Illinois 3, Eastern Kentucky 1 (25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22)
@Belmont 3, Tennessee Tech 0 (25-14, 25-1, 25-23)
AUSTIN PEAY 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University overcame a slow start to post an impressive three-set victory (25-23, 25-16, 25-21) against UT Martin in Ohio Valley conference action, Saturday, at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
Austin Peay (9-12, 3-3 OVC West) head coach Taylor Mott wasn’t happy with her team’s performance at Southeast Missouri and made a couple of lineup changes for Saturday’s contest. Sophomore Liz Landon moved into the libero role while sophomore Hillary Plybon moved back into the starting six as middle blocker as the Lady Govs continue to search for the right combination in the front row.
The Lady Govs had to first overcome a sluggish start in the opening set. Austin Peay had to battle a feisty UT Martin squad through 15 ties and seven lead changes before securing the 25-23 victory.
The second and third sets were much more one sided as Austin Peay trailed only briefly early in each set. The Lady Govs scored 17 kills in a dominating 25-16 second set win as the defense held the Skyhawks to a .000 attack percentage (7 kills and 7 errors). UT Martin’s offense couldn’t get on a roll in the third set with 11 kills and a .104 attack percentage and Austin Peay posted a 25-21 win to end the match.
Senior outside hitter Nikki Doyle and sophomore outside hitter Jada Stotts each recorded 12 kills to lead Austin Peay. Plybon responded to the starting nod with 10 kills and a .556 attack percentage.
The Skyhawks were led by Emily Keaton with 11 kills while Kasey Elswick tallied 25 digs.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Emily Rutherford recorded 11 kills and 18 digs to lead the Jacksonville State volleyball team to a 3-1 (26-24, 25-18, 15-25, 25-18) victory over Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at Kean Hall.
The two teams now sit with identical 4-2 records in Ohio Valley Conference play. The Gamecocks move back to .500 with a 10-10 overall record while the Tigers fall to 9-9 on the season.
The Gamecocks took control of the match after claiming the first set 26-24. JSU led 24-22 and had a chance to clinch the set before the Tigers fought back to tie it off a service ace from Naomi Wells. Wells' service error and Hivya Leite's kill finally sealed the first set victory for the Gamecocks. Rutherford finished with five kills in the set.
JSU then held the Tigers to a -.094 hitting percentage to take the second set 25-18. TSU bounced back in the third set by limiting the Gamecocks offensive attack to a -0.036 hitting percentage while hitting .242 as a team in the 25-15 win.
Rutherford and Jen Meyer took control of the fourth and final set to clinch the match for the Gamecocks. Meyer finished with four kills in the set to give her nine kills on the night while Rutherford registered three of her team-high 11 kills in JSU's 25-18 fourth-set clincher.
Leite and Nicole Merget added nine kills apiece on the afternoon. Alina Agamy finished with a double-double with 30 assists and 12 digs while Kelsey Anderson finished with 24 digs.
Naomi Wells finished with a match-high 15 kills while Rachel Ambroch and Sherryce Butler recorded 10 kills apiece, respectively. Erika Moss recorded a double-double with 41 assists and 14 digs while, defensively, the Tigers were led by Britani Hathorn's 20 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, MURRAY STATE 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team earned their first sweep (25-22, 25-15, 25-15) in Ohio Valley Conference play with a victory over Murray State Saturday afternoon at Houck Field House.
The Redhawks remained undefeated in OVC play at 6-0 with the win and improved to 14-7 overall. Murray State dropped to 1-5 in the conference and 3-13 overall.
Brittney Kalinoski led Southeast in kills with 12 on the afternoon. Fellow outside hitter Colleen Yarber added 11 kills for the Redhawks.
The Redhawks took the first set 25-22 as the Redhawks recorded eight errors in the frame, but added 17 kills to the Racer's 14. The opening frame saw 11 tied scores and four lead changes.
Southeast got out to a 10-5 lead in the second frame on their way to a 25-15 win in the set. The Redhawks outhit Murray State .226 to .036 in the frame as they forced the Racers into committing seven errors.
The Redhawks got off to a fast start in the third frame once again using a 11-3 run to open the set. Murray State would cut the lead to as little as three at 13-10, but that was not enough as they fell 25-15.
The Redhawks outhit Murray State .250 to .127 in the match. Southeast also added six service aces against the Racers.
Emily Coon added nine kills for Southeast with four blocks. Berkley Idel paced the Redhawks defensively with a team-high and match-high 17 digs.
Freshmen Taylor Olden (Lincoln, Ill.) and Emily Schmahl (Edgewood, Ky.) powered the MSU offense with eight kills each, while classmate Jodie Klein (Louisville, Ky.) led the defense with 11 digs.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois volleyball hit past Eastern Kentucky in a four-set affair (25-23, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22) at home on Saturday afternoon, as the win snapped a season-long ten-match losing streak and ended EKU's recent nine-match streak in the series between the two league rivals.
The victory improves the Panthers to 4-15 overall and 1-5 in OVC action, while the Colonels are now 4-12 and 1-5, respectively.
Reynae Hutchinson led all players on the court with a season-high 16 kill tally and hit .324 in the match, while the junior tied senior Alison Berens and classmate Amy Martin with five blocks apiece at the net.
Freshman outside hitter/setter Abby Saalfrank followed with 15 kills, adding 15 assists and 11 digs to nab her fifth triple-double performace of the season. Saalfrank also hit a team-high .406 and tied Berens with three aces apiece.
Berens was just one put-down shy of double-digit kill numbers herself, as she finished with nine, off a .316 attack.
Freshman setter Marah Bradbury led all players with 29 assists, but had to leave the match in the third frame after twisting her ankle following a crucial overpass kill. Saalfrank would take over the full-time setting duties in the match from that point on.
EIU libero Kelsey Brooke paced all back row defenders with 24 digs, as the sophomore set a new career-high.
EKU was led by Ashley Edmond's 13 kill, 11 dig double-double, while Kelsey Kuehner chipped in 10 kills and a team-high four assisted blocks. Libero Dena Ott had 13 digs to lead the Colonels in the back court defense and fired off four aces.
The Panthers led the visiting EKU squad in nearly every statistical category, including kills (57-to-49), attack (.270-to.128), assists (54-to-44), digs (70-to-54), blocks (11.0-to-seven), and points (75.0-to-68.0). The Colonels did win the serving game with a 12-to-seven advantage.
Meeting for the 33rd time, the two long-time rivals finished with 25 ties and 14 lead changes, while the EIU win upped the Panther lead in the all-time series to 17-16.
Both squads enjoyed multi-point runs to open the first set in-between ties of 7-all, 13-all and 21-all. Consecutive aces by Saalfrank would force EKU to burn a timeout with the Panthers up 23-21, but another unreturnable serve by Saalfrank gave EIU the set-point up 24-21. The Colonels made it interesting with consecutive kills, but a put-down by Berens would secure the 25-23 Panther lead.
The second frame saw the visitors jump out to an early 9-4 advantage, requiring an EIU break in the action. EKU would hold onto that least a two-to-three point advantage until a pair of EKU miscues helped the Panthers knot the set at 21-all. Both squads played classic side-out ball as the set went into extra points before consecutive EKU kills would help the Colonels gut out the 26-24 win to tie the match at a set apiece.
EKU would again come out strong to open the third set with a 9-4 lead. EIU would pull to within 10-8 thanks to the overpass kill by Bradbury. Unfortunately she came down wrong and would leave the match. The Panthers would respond by going on a 6-2 run to lead EKU 14-12, yet the Colonels would counter with their own multi-point score to tie it at 17-all. Following a 19-all score, EIU would finish off the Colonels with a strong 6-1 finish to win 25-20 and enjoy the 2-1 match lead.
The Colonels once more started hot in the fourth frame, leading EIU 3-0, but a pair of EIU kills and two EKU errors would tie it up at 4-all. EKU countered to retake the lead at 9-6 and would hold onto that advantage until the Panthers erupted for five straight to lead 15-13 and require EKU to use a timeout. From that point on, EKU could only tie the Panthers two more times as the EIU rode the momentum to the 25-22 victory.
BELMONT 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont University volleyball won its third consecutive match Saturday, defeating Tennessee Tech, 25-14, 25-17, 25-23.
The Bruins hit a very efficient .291 for the match, with only 14 attack errors on 110 swings.
Sophomore Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tennessee) led the way with 11 kills and 10 digs.
11 Bruin service errors was a bit of a concern, but five players hit over .250.
Kelsey Gray led Tennessee Tech (2-16, 0-6 OVC) with eight kills.