TUESDAY’S SCORES
@SIUE 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-19)
Tennessee State 3, @Belmont 2 (20-25, 15-25, 25-19, 25-22, 16-14)
Jacksonville State 3, @Tennessee Tech 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23)
Austin Peay 3, @Murray State 1 (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23)
@Southeast Missouri 3, UT Martin 1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-13)
TENNESSEE STATE 3, BELMONT 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball (5-12, 1-2) dropped a five-set thriller to Tennessee State, 25-20, 25-15, 19-25, 22-25, 14-16, Tuesday evening at the Curb Event Center.
Behind a 5-0 run Belmont jumped to a 8-3 lead over visiting Tennessee State in the opening set. The Tigers tied the set twice, before the junior Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Texas) sparked a Belmont run, giving the Bruins a four point lead, 18-14.
Behind a kill from freshman Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) the Bruins took the first set, 25-20.
The second set started close, with Tennessee State getting on the board first. The Tigers took a 2-1 lead before junior setter Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) sparked a Belmont run which led to the Bruins scoring nine unanswered points, taking a 15-4 lead.
Kills from redshirt freshman Madison Croft (Edwardsville, Ill.) and Myer, along with an attack error by the Tigers allowed Belmont to take a 22-11 lead. A kill from sophomore Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) closed out the set, 25-15, and a take a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Bruins held TSU to a .116 hitting percentage in the second set. Myer led the team with five kills, while Gable added four.
After the break, the Tigers took control early, jumping to a 7-3 lead. TSU put together a 5-0 run, before Myer silenced them. Another short run by TSU gave the Tigers a six point lead.
Tennessee State took a 20-12 lead, but Youngdahl sparked a short run allowing the Bruins to come within six points, 22-16. The Bruins came within five, but the Tigers took the third set, 25-19.
In the fourth set, Belmont jumped to an early 3-0 lead, before the Tigers took a 5-3 lead. Belmont and TSU exchanged points. Consecutive TSU attack errors allowed Belmont to take a 8-7 lead before TSU tied the score once more on a service error.
Myer gave the Bruins a 9-8 lead before the Tigers went on a 6-0 run. The Bruins overcame a seven point deficit. A TSU serving error sparked a Belmont run, allowing the Bruins to score three unanswered points, making the score 24-18.
The Tigers took a 24-21 lead, before Croft and a Miranda service ace put the Bruins within two points, 24-22. However it wasn't enough as TSU closed out the fourth set 25-22, forcing the match to a fifth set.
In the deciding set, the Bruins jumped out to a 3-1 lead. A TSU service ace tied the set at five. Myer gave Belmont a one-point lead and TSU tied the set up once again.
Belmont took a three-point lead, 12-9 behind kills from Youngdahl and Myer, but TSU put together a 4-0 run, which put the Tigers ahead by one.
TSU took a 14-13 lead, but a service error tied the set at 14, but TSU scored two back-to-back points, taking the set and the match, 3-2.
Myer led the Bruins with 14 kills, while junior libero Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) recorded a season-high 25 digs. As a team, Belmont recorded 10 blocks.
Tennessee State was led by Rachel Ambroch with a match-high 20 kills to go along with 14 digs. Britani Hathorn paced the Tiger defense with 22 digs.
SIUE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball improved to 2-1 in Ohio Valley Conference play Tuesday with a straight sets victory over Eastern Illinois at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars, now 6-8 overall, defeated the Panthers 25-21, 25-16, 25-19.
Both teams started slow with first set jitters. The Cougars managed just 10 kills while EIU picked up eight in the opening set. However, both teams put up double-digit attack errors.
SIUE, however, turned around its offense in the second set with 18 kills. Freshman Kaitlyn O'Reilly saw her first collegiate action at setter in the set, subbing in for the final five kills for the Cougars.
Emma Anderson provided the spark on offense for SIUE. The sophomore outside hitter rallied for seven kills in the final set and finished with a match-high 14. She hit .400 for the match and added four blocks.
The Cougars scored points from all over the court. Freshman Leslie Lindsey provided four kills on five attack attempts. Kelsey Augustine led the Cougars with five blocks. Cori Harris provided an untouched service ace on match point.
Emily Franklin led the Panthers with nine kills to go with five digs. Stephanie Wallace and Marah Bradbury each recorded a team-high six digs. Bradbury added 13 assists.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, MURRAY STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Senior outside hitter Nikki Doyle led all hitters with 17 kills and Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team won a four-set (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23) Ohio Valley Conference decision against Murray State, Tuesday night at Racer Arena.
Austin Peay (8-10, 2-1 OVC ) showed signs it was regaining its form of two weeks ago, but still couldn’t put all the pieces consistently. The Lady Govs controlled the opening two sets but saw its defense falter as Murray State (3-9, 1-2 OVC West) won the third set. Austin Peay was able to complete the win with a come-from-behind effort in the fourth set.
Austin Peay fell behind early in the opening set but used a 6-1 scoring run to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 7-4 lead. The Lady Govs later used a 7-1 run to break open the set with an 18-11 lead and didn’t look back. The stats told an impressive story as APSU scored 15 kills but posted an impressive seven blocks to help secure the win.
Murray State controlled the first part of the second set after breaking out to a 4-1 lead. Austin Peay turned the tide with an 11-3 run that was helped significantly by Murray State attack errors. After gaining an 18-13 lead with that run, the Lady Govs had to withstand one more Racers run that cut the lead to two points but held on for the win.
Austin Peay sought to turn the tables in the third set, but its offense sputtered after opening with a 7-5 lead. Murray State used an 8-1 run to build a 13-8 advantage. The Lady Govs would close back within one point, 17-16, but could not close the gap.
The fourth set was more of a see-saw affair with 14 ties and seven lead changes. It would take a 4-1 Austin Peay run to secure the set with sophomore outside hitter Jada Stotts supplying a pair of kills to secure the win.
Doyle’s 17-kill performance came with a .222 attack percentage. Stotts added 15 kills at a .306 attack pace. Sophomore middle blocker Liz Landon added 12 kills and a team-best five blocks.
Olden led Murray State with 15 kills, but it was Lelm who caused the most trouble with an errorless 12-kill performance (.632 attack percentage). The Racers won the offensive battle by a 60-57 margin, but could not overcome APSU’s more efficient .299 to .226 attack percentage advantage.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Strong defense and a balanced offensive attack led the Jacksonville State volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23) sweep of Tennessee Tech Tuesday night as the Gamecocks closed out their 17-match road trip to start the season.
The Gamecocks (9-8, 3-0) remain undefeated in conference play after holding the Golden Eagles (2-13, 0-3) to a .097 hitting percentage for the match. Jen Meyer and Nicole Merget led JSU with 12 kills and 10 kills, respectively, while Hivya Leite recorded nine kills and Emily Rutherford added eight kills.
Leite and Meyer set the tone early in the Gamecocks' 25-22 first set victory as the senior leaders combined for 14 kills. Leite finished with eight of her nine kills in the set and hit .545 while Meyer hit .423 and posted six kills.
The Gamecocks fell behind 7-1 in the second set due to five errors, but used a balanced offensive attack to tie the set at 12 apiece. Merget then pulled off three-straight kills to spark the Gamecocks to the 25-20 victory. The Golden Eagles were held to a .056 hitting percentage for the set.
JSU continued it's strong defensive play in the third set by holding TTU to a .059 hitting percentage in the third set. Rutherford finished with four kills in the set as the Gamecocks pulled out the narrow 25-23 victory to complete the sweep of the Golden Eagles.
Defensively, the Kelsey Anderson led JSU with 29 digs while Kelly Cole added 12 kills. Alina Agamy recorded her second double-double of the season with 38 assists and 14 digs.
Courtney Smith finished with 30 digs for the Golden Eagles while Madison Comperry and Audrew Lewis recorded 13 digs apiece. Kelsey Gray led the team with nine kills on a .400 hitting percentage.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, UT MARTIN 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team recorded a season-high 16 blocks in a 3-1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-12, 25-13) rout of UT Martin on Tuesday evening at Houck Field House. The Redhawks are now 3-0 in the OVC for the first time since 2001.
Southeast snapped a four game losing streak against the Skyhawks as Southeast improves to 3-0 in the OVC and 11-6 overall. UT Martin drops to 5-11 overall and 1-2 in the OVC.
Colleen Yarber led the Redhawks on the night with a match-high 17 kills hitting at a .378 clip with only three errors.
The Redhawks outhit the Skyhawks .250 to .126 in the match. Southeast also added a season-high eight service aces.
The Skyhawks took the first set 25-19. Southeast was sluggish in the opening frame hitting .139 with five errors. UT Martin was strong in the opening stanza with 19 kills hitting at a .361 clip.
Southeast bounced back with an impressive second frame taking the set 25-19. The Redhawks controled most of the frame leading by as much as 10 points at 22-12.
UT Martin made a run late in the frame with 7-3 run, but an error by Chelsea Bowles ended the frame. Southeast recorded a match-high 15 kills in the set.
Southeast dominated the third frame taking a 2-1 match lead with a 25-12 win. The Redhawks finished the frame with a 12-1 run that featured three services aces and three blocks.
The Redhawks continued their momentum in the four set opening the frame on a 10-1 run, as Southeast outscored UT Martin 22-2 in the end of the third frame and beginning of the fourth frame.
The Southeast early run was highlighted by four blocks. Taylor Masterson owned the net during the run with two solo blocks and two assisted blocks. Sophomore Kelsey Keeve added two blocking assists in back-to-back points with Masterson.
Southeast forced nine errors by the Skyhawks in the final frame as they took the set 25-13 and the match 3-1.
Julie Shives added 34 assists and 10 digs in her double-double effort.
Berkley Idel led the Redhawks defensively with 19 digs. Emily Coon added three solo blocks and seven kills as she hit a match-high .385.
Emily Keaton led the Skyhawks in kills this evening with 11. Dallas Zimmerman hit .389 with nine kills (against only two errors in 18 attempts) while Lynsey Hazelwood picked up eight digs for UT Martin. Amanda Crask tallied 32 assists and Kasey Elswick recorded a team-high 17 digs for the Skyhawks.