FRIDAY’S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, Savannah State 0 (25-7, 25-7, 25-8)
@Marquette 3,
Eastern Illinois 0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-20)
Montana State 3,
Belmont 0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-18)
Jacksonville State 3, Jackson State 0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-16)
@Akron 3,
SIUE 0 (25-19, 25-10, 26-24)
Oakland 3,
Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-14, 25-22, 27-25)
Jacksonville State 3, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-10)
Youngstown State 3,
SIUE 1 (25-15, 27-25, 15-25, 27-25)
Eastern Illinois 3, Wake Forest 1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20)
Southeast Missouri 3, USF 2 (25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9)
@Ohio 3,
Belmont 0 (25-20, 25-11, 25-18)
@Morehead State 3, Missouri 2 (16-25, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13)
Austin Peay 3, East Tennessee State 0 (25-9, 25-10, 26-24)
@Alabama 3,
Austin Peay 1 (25-23, 25-21, 14-25, 25-22)
Tennessee State 3, Chattanooga 1 (25-19, 28-30, 25-22, 25-23)
@Kennesaw State 3,
Tennessee State 0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-21)
UALR 3,
UT Martin 1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21)
Western Kentucky 3,
Tennessee Tech 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-13)
MARQUETTE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0; EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, WAKE FOREST 1
MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Eastern Illinois split a pair at the Marquette Classic. The Panthers fell to host Marquette (12-25, 19-25, 20-25) and defeated Wake Forest (25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20).
Against Marquette, Sophomore Kelsey Roggemann led all Panthers with six kills and a .312 attack, followed by five kills each from senior Alison Berens and junior Reynae Hutchinson.
Freshman libero Stephanie Wallace led all players with 18 digs, while Hutchinson upped 15 attacks as well.
In net defense, Berens and junior Stephanie Arnold each finished with two blocks apiece.
Marquette (5-1) was led by Erin Lehman's 11 kills, followed by nine put-a-ways from Lindsey Gosh. Danielle Carlson, meanwhile, had a team-high five stuffs.
Team-wise, MU led EIU in hitting (.329 to .028), kills (39-to-28), assists (35-to-24), and blocks (10-to-seven), while the Panthers topped the Golden Eagles in digs (65-to-41) and aces (three-to-one).
The opening set started pretty even, but an 8-2 run by the host squad would give them the advantage, forcing EIU to burn both timeouts as they eventually trailed 17-9. After a couple of nice EIU plays, including a deep court kill by Stephanie Arnold and a Panther block, MU would earn the 20th point first, up 20-12. But a 6-0 run would help the Golden Eagles the first set, 25-12. EIU hit zero in the frame as compared to a blistering .412 by the home squad, while blocks were even at two apiece.
After classic side-out play to start set two, a 5-0 Marquette run gave the host team a 11-6 cushion lead. Yet a nice cross-court kill from Reynae Hutchinson followed by an ace by Marah Bradbury helped EIU counter the run. However, MU maintained a five-or-six point advantage to lead 22-16, but serving miscues and a Panther block would keep EIU within striking distance down just 23-19. An eventual EIU error and MU's own block would give the Golden Eagles the two-set lead off the 25-19 win. EIU once again hit .000 for the set, led by Kelsey Roggemann's errorless attack off three kills.
As in the first two sets, MU would go on a multi-point run following an early tie score to eventually lead, 19-12. But EIU would counter with a couple of runs of their own to cut the lead to 23-19. However, the host squad would use the outside attack to eventually hold on for the 25-20 win and earn the morning sweep of the Panthers.
The MU win marks only the second Golden Eagle victory over the Panthers in the 12th all-time DI meeting between the two squads.
In the win over Wake Forest, Three Panthers finished with double-digit kill figures, led by junior Reynae Hutchinson's 19th career double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore Kelsey Roggemann and freshman Abby Saalfrank chipped in 12 kills apiece.
Saalfrank upped her season kill-assist duo-duo mark to four with team-high 27 assists, and led all players on the court with a .409 attack. Fellow freshman Marah Bradbury dished out 22 assists of her own as EIU out-hit the Demon Deacons, .286 to .271.
Defensively, both squads had seven blocks, with junior Stephanie Arnold leading the net defense behind five stuffs. In the back court, sophomore Kelsey Brooke led all players with 14 ups, while freshman libero Stephanie Wallace tallied 11 digs.
Wake Forest (3-3) was led by four players with double-digit kills, as Anna Carley had 15 and Andrea Beck and Kylie Hargreaves tied with 13 each.
Meeting for the first time in program history, the two squads battled thru just nine ties and three lead changes as the Panthers controlled much of the match with strong serving and clutch defensive pick-ups. Wallace and Bradbury each fired off three aces as EIU out-hit Wake Forest behind the service line, eight to three.
In other team stats, EIU led in kills (58-to-56), assists (56-to-49) and points (73.0-to-66.0), while the Deacons had one more dig than the Panthers via a 51-to-50 advantage.
A hot Panther start forced WF to use an early timeout as EIU led, 4-1. The Demon Deacons countered to pull to within 5-4, but EIU would move ahead, 12-8, following an ace by Stephanie Wallace. WF would burn their final timeout as consecutive points upped Panther lead to 19-15 following a kill by Emily Franklin and a Deacon miscue. Down 22-19, WF would go on run to pull to within 22-21 of EIU, forcing a Panther break in the action, as EIU then took the set, 25-23, thanks to a late 3-1 run. Eastern never trailed the set and out-hit the Deacons, .321 to .390.
An early 1-0 WF lead quickly turned to a 5-2 Panther advantage thanks to an EIU 4-0 run as Eastern took advantage of off-system play by WF to extend their lead to 14-9. Yet the ACC foe would go on a 6-1 run to knot the score at 15-all, requiring an Eastern break. After kills from Alison Berens and Abby Saalfrank moved EIU ahead 17-15, WF would go on 6-1 run to force another EIU timeout as Panthers trailed 21-18. A quick set to Kelsey Roggemann and a kill off the slide would pull EIU to within 22-20, but Panther miscues would help WF hold on for the 25-21 victory to even the match at a set apiece.
Like the previous two sets, EIU jumped to quick 9-4 lead as tough serves led to easy Panther kills as WF struggled to get on-system and suddenly trailed Eastern, 14-11. WF countered with a 3-0 run to pull to within 11-7, but nice defensive pick-ups and timely hitting by Panthers helped EIU maintain an 18-12 advantage to force another Deacon break in the action. Excellent on-system Panther play pushed EIU to set-point, and eventually the frame, 25-20, as Reynae Hutchinson's kill silenced a late WF run. EIU out-hit WF, .244 to .171 with Abby Saalfrank hitting a blistering .714 behind five kills and zero errors in that set.
The fourth set began with side-out play by both team before EIU went on 4-1 run to lead 10-7. A key ace by Stephanie Wallace, followed by tandem block by Hutchinson/ Berens and a crushing kill by Hutchinson would move Eastern ahead, 17-12. With EIU playing scrappy defense and firing on all cylinders, Wake Forest would burn a timeout down 19-13 following consecutive right-side kills by Abby Saalfrank. A 4-2 run by WF would pull the Deacons to within 21-17 of EIU to require a Panther timeout. But another Saalfrank kill, a quick Roggemann attack and a Wallace ace would give EIU the win, 25-20.
Eastern returns to the court at noon on Saturday afternoon, as the Panthers take on #23-Michigan to end Marquette Classic play.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3 JACKSON STATE 0; JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
CONWAY, Ark. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team got back on the winning track on Friday with sweeps over Jackson State (25-10, 25-16, 25-16) and Arkansas –Pine Bluff (25-13, 25-14, 25-10) in the opening day of the Central Arkansas Invitational.
The Gamecocks (6-3) recorded a season-high 15 blocks in the opening game against Jackson State (0-5). Sophomore Nicole Merget led the team with 11 blocks while senior Jen Meyer finished with nine.
Offensively, JSU used a balanced attack, led by senior Hivya Leite's 10 kills. Kelsey Anderson and Merget added eight kills apiece while Meyer recorded seven kills.
In the second match against Pine-Bluff (1-5), JSU posted a .338 hitting percentage and recorded a season-high 13 aces as the Gamecocks posted their fourth sweep of the season. Merget led the team with eight kills on a .438 hitting percentage and also added two aces.
Freshman Taylor Long finished with six kills on a .545 hitting percentage while Meyer also added six kills on a .462 hitting percentage.
The Gamecocks will return to action on Saturday at noon in a rematch against South Dakota before closing the tournament against host school Central Arkansas at 4 p.m.
AKRON 3, SIUE 0; YOUNGSTOWN STATE 3, SIUE 0
AKRON, Ohio - SIUE volleyball faced a pair of tough matches at the opening day of the Zips Invitational.
The Cougars dropped to 3-5 overall after losses to host Akron and Youngstown State. Akron defeated the Cougars
25-19, 25-16, 25-21. Youngstown State topped SIUE 15-25, 27-25, 25-15, 27-25. SIUE has one more match Saturday at the Zips Invitational with an 11 a.m. CT meeting with Binghamton.
SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson said the Cougars are taking risks during this non-conference season with lineups and positions.
SIUE registered more kills than Youngstown State (59-52) behind a match-leading 15 from Brooke Smith. Emma Anderson and Torre added 14 kills each for the Cougars. "I thought Emma Anderson also played steady," Johnson noted.
Johnson said moves to insert freshman Hilary Trevino into the back row and freshman Leslie Lindsey on the right side have been positives.
The Cougars came out strong against Youngstown State with 16 kills on 30 swings in the first set. SIUE had the 8-2 Penguins struggling with just seven kills and six errors in the first set.
The Penguins made their comeback in the second set. Down 21-16, Youngstown State's Chelsea Guerreri served four straight points to get her team back in the match. The Penguins would take the set with kills from Shannon Watson and Alexis Egler.
SIUE also finished with more digs (62-56) against Youngstown State.
Akron, 3-4, opened its own tournament earlier in the day with a three-set victory over the Cougars. Kelsey Augustine paced SIUE's offense with 10 kills.
Chelsea Harvey and Tina Dimitrijevs led the Zips with 14 and 13 kills, respectively.
OAKLAND 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Eastern Kentucky lost its first match at the 2012 Cleveland State Invitational, 3-0, to Oakland.
EKU (2-5) lost by scores of 25-14, 25-22 and 27-25.
The Colonels were on the verge of sending the match to a fourth set. A kill by Ashley Edmond gave Eastern a 24-23 advantage in the third. However, Oakland scored the next two points to take a one point lead. After a kill by Toni Michalski tied the set at 25-25, Oakland rolled off two straight to take the set and the match.
Edmond finished with 13 kills to lead the Colonels. Three players recorded 10 or more digs. Mallor Moffat and Dena Ott each had 14 and Edmond contributed 12.
Meaghan Bray had 21 kills for Oakland (4-4). Brittany Holbrook added 12 kills.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, USF 2
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team knocked off Big East foe South Florida 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9) Friday evening at Chaifetz Arena in St. Louis, Mo. It is the first time that Southeast has defeated the Bulls.
It is Southeast's first win over a team in the Big East since the Redhawks defeated Syracuse and West Virginia in 1998.
The Redhawks improved to 5-3 on the season as the Bulls drop to 2-5.
Senior Brittney Kalinoski was impressive for Southeast on the night with a season-high 16 kills to go along with 16 digs. She also sported an impressive .277 hitting percentage.
The Redhawks took the first frame in convincing fashion 25-19. Southeast used a 10-4 run after the two teams were tied a 12-12.
Southeast hit .209 in the opening frame with a pair of aces. USF made six errors in the set hitting .158.
USF took the second frame 26-24 as the Redhawks hit a match-high .433 in the frame. Even though the Bulls did not match the Redhawks hitting percentage they managed 18 kills with five blocks.
South Florida held the Redhawks to a match-low hitting percentage of .111 in the third frame as the Bulls took a 2-1 match lead with a 25-20 victory.
Southeast battled back to tie the match after taking the fourth set 25-22. The Redhawks battled back in the frame as Southeast hit .316 in the stanza making only three errors.
Southeast used a 7-1 run in the fifth frame to take a commanding 9-3 lead. The Redhawks would cruise to the win from there taking the set 15-9 and the match 3-2
Emily Coon, Kelsey Keeve and Colleen Yarber each added 10 kills for Southeast. Coon hit .450 on the night with six blocking assists and Keeve added a .400 hitting percentage with four blocking assists.
Julie Shives added six kills and 41 assists to go along with 16 digs defensively.
Libero Bekley Idel paced the defense with 22 digs. Redshirt Freshman Taylor Masterson added five blocks with four assisted and one solo.
Wylie Devlin led the Bulls with 48 assists and 10 digs.
Southeast returns to action tomorrow against Saint Louis at noon followed by a 4:30 matchup with regional rival Evansville at 4:30 p.m.
MONTANA STAT 3, BELMONT 0; OHIO 3, BELMONT 0
ATHENS, Ohio – Belmont dropped a pair of matches at the Bobcat Invitational. The Bruins fell to Montana State (18-25, 16-5, 18-25) and host Ohio (20-25, 11-25, 18-25).
In the opening set against Montana State, the Bruins took a 2-0 lead. Montana State broke away though after the score was tied at five. The Bobcats went on to score five unanswered points before a kill by junior Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) ended their run.
A kill from Maddison Croft (Edwardsville, Ill.) sparked a Belmont run. The redshirt freshman recorded three kills in the first set and a block. Two short runs from the Bobcats closed out the set, 25-18.
Montana State jumped out to an early lead and continued to extend that lead. McCoy sparked a 3-0 run for Belmont near the end of the set, but it was not enough to close the gap, and the Bruins fell in the second set, 25-16.
McCoy and sophomore Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) each tallied four kills in the second set.
After the break, the Bobcats went on an 8-0 run and followed it up by scoring four unanswered points. Martin started a short run for the Bruins, but Montana State continued to pull away, winning the set, 25-18.
Croft and McCoy led Belmont with nine kills each. Junior setter Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) recorded 29 assists while junior libero Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) tallied 12 digs.
In the match with Ohio, The opening set remained close, as the Bruins and Bobcats battled back and forth exchanging points. Ohio scored four unanswered points, but Belmont put together a short run to tie the set at 15.
Belmont trailed by one, before Ohio closed out the set, 25-20. Junior Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) paced Belmont with three kills.
Ohio jumped out to an early lead in the second set and held Belmont to 11 points en route to their 25-11 win.
After the break, freshman Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.), put Belmont on the board first. A kill from junior Danielle Prochaska (Middleton, Wisc.) kept the Bruins within one, but Ohio went on a 5-0 run.
Sophomore Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) sparked a short run before the Bobcats silenced it. However Belmont strung together another short run to pull within three before Ohio pulled away, taking the set, 25-18.
McCoy led the Bruins with seven kills, while Youngdahl added six. Prochaska recorded a season-high five kills.
Junior setter Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) tallied 22 assists and junior Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Texas) recorded eight digs. Youngdahl and junior libero Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) each added seven digs.
Belmont will take the court again tomorrow to face Niagara at noon.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EAST TENNESSEE 0; ALABAMA 3, AUSTIN PEAY 1
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Austin Peay split a pair of matches at the Bama Bash. The Lady Govs defeated East Tennessee (25-9, 25-10, 26-24) and fell to host Alabama (23-25, 21-25, 25-14, 22-25).
Against ETSU, Austin Peay (3-8) led wire-to-wire in the first two sets. The Lady Govs committed only one error against 15 kills in the opening set and posted a staggering .560 attack percentage. The second set was even cleaner with no errors and 11 kills for a .379 attack percentage.
East Tennessee (9-3) could not crack the Austin Peay defense in the first two sets. The Bucs were held to eight kills and six errors (.069 attack percentage) in the opening set. They fared even worse in the second set, committing 10 errors and scoring only six kills for a minus-.111 attack percentage.
Fans got their money’s worth in the third set as East Tennessee bounced back to threaten Austin Peay. The set featured 10 ties and three lead changes and saw the Bucs build a six-point, 20-14, lead. The Lady Govs roared back with six straight points, including a trio of kills by senior outside hitter Nikki Doyle, to tie the set, 20-20. Austin Peay saw one match-point opportunity denied but East Tennessee could not stave off a second chance as it committed a match-ending error.
Austin Peay posted a season best .355 attack percentage in the contest, scoring 41 kills while committing only eight attack errors. The Lady Govs defense also steeped up, with five blocks and 48 digs in the three-set affair.
Doyle led Austin Peay with 14 kills and a .419 attack percentage. Sophomore Jada Stotts got off to a slow start but recovered to post 11 kills and a .417 attack percentage.
Megan Devine led East Tennessee with nine kills but also committed nine errors. The Bucs finished the match with only 27 kills and committed 22 errors for a .048 attack percentage.
Sophomore outside hitter Jada Stotts recorded a career-high 27 kills but Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team could not find a way past host Alabama, falling in four sets (23-25, 21-25, 25-14, 22-25) in the Hampton Inn Bama Bash, Saturday night, at Foster Auditorium.
Stotts’ match-best 27-kill performance was the eighth-best single-match effort in Austin Peay history and the most kills since Stephanie Champine’s 29-kill outing during the 2009 season. Stotts scored seven kills in the opening set followed by eight kills in the second frame. She was held to four kills in the third set, which Austin Peay won. Stotts came back with eight kills in the final set.
Alabama (8-1) roared out to a quick 8-1 start in the opening set and forced an Austin Peay timeout. The Lady Govs slowly recovered and scored three consecutive points to close within three points, 14-11, and force an Alabama timeout. Following the timeout the teams traded points until back-to-back kills by Stattos gave APSU a 21-20 lead. Another Alabama timeout turned the momentum as it scored four straight points to take a 24-21 lead to take control en route to a 25-23 win.
The second set was a wild affair with 16 ties and eight lead changes as neither team was able to build more than a two point lead until near the set’s end. With the set tied 21-21, Alabama’s Kayla Fitterer scored three kills as part of a 4-0 run to seal the 25-21 Alabama victory.
Austin Peay (3-9) again fell behind quickly in the third set, trailing Alabama 5-1. The Lady Govs responded with a 5-0 lead to tie the set 6-6. The teams traded points to 10-10 before Austin Peay took control. A 6-1 burst was followed by a set-ending 8-1 run as the Lady Govs rolled to an impressive 25-14 win.
The fourth set was as wild as the second frame with 15 ties and four lead changes. Unlike the second set, Alabama was able to build a three-point lead at 16-134. Austin Peay responded with a 7-3 run to take a 20-19 lead and they held a 21-20 lead. But Alabama charged to the close with a 5-1 burst to end the match with a 25-22 victory.
Stotts’ 27-kill performance was the night’s highlight but she was aided by an impressive performance by sophomore setter Cami Fields who posted 52 assists on APSU’s 57 kills and chipped in 10 digs and two blocks. Fields also helped senior outside hitter Nikki Doyle record 11 kills and sophomore Liz Landon post a 10-kill effort.
Fitterer led Alabama’s offense with 18 kills and was one of four players to reach double-digit kill territory for the host Crimson Tide. Alabama outhit Austin Peay by a narrow 65-57 margin, but surrendered 23 errors against Austin Peay’s 16 to negate most of the advantage.
Austin Peay continues its stay at the Hampton Inn Bama Bash with a 9 a.m., Saturday contest against Lamar. They follow that with a 4:30 p.m. contest against Alabama State to wrap up their stay.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, CHATTANOOGA 1; KENNESAW STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
KENNESAW, Ga. - The Tennessee State volleyball team split its first two matches of the KSU Owls Invitational. The team defeated Chattanooga for the first time in program history, 3-1 (25-19, 28-30, 25-22, 25-23), but followed the win with a loss to Kennesaw State, 0-3 (22-25, 12-25, 21-25).
Sophomore outside hitter Naomi Wells led the Tigers with 31 kills, including 23 in the win against Chattanooga. Freshman middle blocker Lindsay Hornsby and sophomore outside hitter Sherryce Butler added 22 and 18 kills, respectively.
Junior setter Erika Moss had 37 assists in match one, and recorded 18 in match two. She also had a team-high 14 digs versus Chattanooga.
Seniors Calasia Williams and Britani Hathorn had double-digit digs in match one, along with Moss and Well’s 11.
In set one of match one, Wells had eight kills including TSU’s set-tying 11th point and go-ahead 12th point. The set went back and forth, and the Tigers were still only up by one at 19-18. From that point, TSU went on a 6-1 run to win the frame.
After a heart-breaking 28-30 loss in set two, TSU rebounded well by pushing ahead 3-0 to open the third period. The Mocs tied the score at three and the teams traded blows until the score got to be 21-21.
Another late run from TSU, this one 4-1, propelled the Tigers to set a victory and a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers came roaring out of the gates in set four and jumped out to a 10-3 lead on the back of three straight service aces. The Mocs fought back and got within one at 22-21. However, an emphatic kill from Wells ended the set and the match.
The Tigers’ luck ran out in the second match of the night when an 8-2 KSU run early in the first frame allowed the Owls a 1-0 set advantage.
An 11-4 Owls run to start the second frame, put the Tigers behind early. TSU got within four at 15-11, but the Tigers would score just one more point for the remainder of the set.
Neither side could gain the edge early in set three, and the score was tied at five apiece. A slew of TSU errors and kills from KSU’s Emily Bean doomed the Tigers’ chance for a comeback.
The next opponents for the Tigers are North Carolina Central and Troy tomorrow at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The final score may have reflected a three-set sweep, but play was far from minimal when Tennessee Tech challenged host Western Kentucky Friday afternoon to open the Lady 'Topper Invitational. The Golden Eagles came out swinging against an opponent that is on a seven-match win streak, there were seven lead changes and the score was tied 12 times as underdog Tech refused to let any point go unearned.
WKU prevailed by set scores of 25-20, 25-18 and 25-13, but the Golden Eagles found some positive features in the loss.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles held WKU below its season attack average. The Lady 'Toppers hit .200, recording 22 hitting errors, nine of those errors forced by the Tech block at the net.
The Golden Eagles out-blocked the Lady Toppers, 9-6, with senior Kelsey Gray leading the stand with two solo blocks and four block assists. Newcomer Cody Dodd set up the block on the outside, assisting in two blocks, and knocking down a solo block.
Tech had it's best offensive performance since opening the season at UT Chattanooga two weeks ago. Tech hit just below its season average of 9.8 kills/set, averaging eight kills. In last weekend's tournament, the Golden Eagles averaged an .055 clip. The Golden Eagle attack spread offenses to several hitters, including pinhitters Natalie Penrod, Ellen Conti and Dodd, who all hit above the .200 mark.
Penrod led the Golden Eagles with nine terminations, recording only two errors. Conti chipped in with eight kills.
Ashleigh Hancock set out 11 assists, and Madison Comperry dished nine assists. Courtney Smith again held down the backcourt, sprawling for 12 digs.
Tech returns to competition Saturday at the Western Kentucky Tournament, facing IUPUI at 10 a.m. before rounding out play at the tournament against No. 10 Dayton at 3 p.m.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, SAVANNAH STATE 0; MOREHEAD STATE 3, MISSOURI 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. – Morehead State won both of its matches to open up its own Eagle Challenge on Friday. The Eagles defeated Savannah State (25-7, 25-7, 25-8) and Missouri 916-25, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13).
Morehead State junior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon set a school single-match record by hitting .846 as the Eagle volleyball team defeated Savannah State 3-0 (25-7, 25-7, 25-8) Friday morning in the Eagle Challenge Tournament at Wetherby Gym.
The Eagles moved to 3-6, while the Tigers fell to 0-10.
Bohannon was one of three Eagles to hit better than .500 as MSU landed 41 kills and made just four errors in the 54-minute match on a season-high .587 team hitting efficiency. Bohannon led the Eagles with 11 kills and no errors on 13 swings. She bettered her former teammate Emma Keough's previous single-match record of .824 set in 2009.
Senior outside hitter Ellie Roberson smacked down 10 kills and hit .562 with just one error, and senior middle blocker Annie Gruenschlaeger dropped in eight kills, hit .582, and had a team-best four blocks. Freshman Hannah Sigala had six kills and no errors.
Savannah State had just eight kills and hit -.138.
-- Senior outside hitter Ellie Roberson and junior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon combined for 40 kills to lead the Morehead State volleyball team to a thrilling five-set win (16-25, 26-24, 25-23, 21-25, 15-13) over Southeastern Conference foe Missouri on Friday night at Wetherby Gym.
The Eagles improved to 4-6 with their second win of the day, while the Tigers slipped to 7-2 overall.
MSU finished with more kills (71-60), assists (64-57), aces (6-1) and digs (70-62) than the Tigers, and the hosts hit .292 with 11 kills in the deciding set. The marathon battle featured 40 ties and 16 lead changes. The Eagles erased significant disadvantages to win sets two and five.
Roberson landed a team-best 21 kills, while Bohannon turned in a season-best 19-kill performance. Senior middle blocker Annie Gruenschlaeger totaled 16 kills, and sophomore middle blocker Laura McDermott smacked down a season-high 10 kills while hitting .318. Defensively, junior libero Leslie Schellhaas scooped up a season-best 29 attempts.
Sophomore setter Colbey Cameron tallied her first career double-double with 11 assists and 10 digs, while senior setter Caitlin Clark handed out a match-best 51 assists.
Missouri was paced by Lisa Henning with 24 kills off 60 attacks. Whitney Little had 12 kills and 12 blocks and hit a match-high .393.
The Eagles led 12-9 in the deciding set before a Tiger ace and two blocks by Little tied it at 12. Following an MSU timeout, Little was called for a blocking error, and Gruenschlaeger and Bohannon finished off the triumph with kills.
The Tigers pulled away to win by nine in the opening set. Trailing early, the Eagles cut it back to 18-14, but Missouri scored seven of the final nine, including four Henning kills, to win.
MSU appeared ready to go down 2-0, trailing 23-21 in the second, but Gruenschlaeger landed a winner and Henning committed an error to give the Eagles life. Jade Hayes' kill situated the Tigers with set point, but two consecutive errors and another Gruenschlaeger spike turned the momentum to MSU with the 26-24 win.
The Eagles grabbed the lead in the third frame and eventually pulled out to a 15-11 advantage. Leading 24-21, MSU had two set-point opportunities thwarted, but Sarah Meister served long to give the Eagles the two-point victory.
MSU let an 11-9 lead in the fourth slip away as Missouri put together a 10-3 run. The Eagles cut it to within four on three occasions but the Tigers held on for a 25-21 win.
Morehead State wraps up the Eagle Challenge Tournament on Saturday against Valparaiso at 2 p.m. The match can be seen live on the Ohio Valley Conference Digital Network.