SATURDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illinois 3, @Austin Peay 1 (25-20, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19)
Morehead State 3, @UT Martin 0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17)
@Murray State 3, SIUE 0 (26-24, 25-16, 27-25)
@Belmont 3, Jacksonville State 0 (25-23, 25-14, 25-14)
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team suffered through another sub-par offensive outing and fell in four sets (20-25, 27-25, 22-25, 19-25) to Eastern Illinois, Saturday, in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Dunn Center.
Defense held sway during the match with neither team enjoying much offensive consistency. Austin Peay (9-16, 6-4 OVC) was held to a .117 attack percentage with only 49 kills, thanks to an Eastern Illinois defense that was credited with 13.5 blocks and 72 digs.
The Panthers offense posted a .197 attack percentage and was held in check by a Lady Govs defensive effort that produced 11 blocks and 74 digs.
The defensive effort produced a closely-fought affair with 23 ties and 10 lead changes during the match. The first three sets were each secured in the closing moments.
In the first set, Eastern Illinois (13-10, 7-3 OVC) needed a 4-0 run to turn a 19-17 lead into a 23-17 advantage it would not relinquish. The second set needed overtime and saw Austin Peay battle from a 25-24 deficit with three straight points, including kills by Lauren Henderson and Liz Landon to win 27-25.
Eastern Illinois controlled the early portion of the third set, breaking out to a 9-3 lead. Austin Peay brought the set back even with a 8-2 run, thanks largely to six EIU attack errors. The Lady Govs briefly held a 15-14 lead but the Panthers erased that lead with a 4-0 run. A later 3-0 run helped Eastern Illinois solidify its lead at 21-18, and Austin Peay could not close the gap.
The Panthers controlled the fourth set in nearly wire-to-wire fashion. Eastern Illinois used a 5-0 run to turn a 3-3 tie into an 8-3 lead. The Panthers slowly expanded their lead the set’s remainder before settling on the 25-19 final.
Henderson again led Austin Peay with 15 kills a .364 attack percentage and seven blocks. Junior Jada Stotts added 13 kills but was held to a .111 attack percentage.
Reynae Hutchinson led Eastern Illinois with 19 kills but also was held in check to the tune of a .163 attack percentage. Stephanie Arnold and Amy Martin each chipped in 11 kills.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Led by a season-high .322 team hitting percentage, including four players above the .400 mark, the Morehead State volleyball team gave Head Coach Jaime Gordon his 300th career collegiate coaching victory today with a 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17) sweep at UT Martin.
Morehead State (19-6/10-0 Ohio Valley Conference) extended the nation's longest regular-season conference winning streak to 32 and won its 30th straight OVC road match. Gordon, who has led the Eagles since 2003, now has 220 wins at MSU to go along with 80 he collected at his first head coaching assignment, West Virginia Wesleyan.
Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Smith, junior right-side hitter Alex Fitzmorris, junior middle blocker Laura McDermott and junior setter Colbey Cameron hit higher than .400. The Eagles smacked 41 kills and had only 13 attack errors.
Smith and senior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon led MSU with 11 kills. Smith hit .429, while Fitzmorris recorded a .444 efficiency on nine kills. McDermott had a team-best four blocks and tallied five kills. Cameron notched 31 assists and seven digs. Senior libero Leslie Schellhaas had a match-high 13 digs. She needs just 54 more to move into second place in career digs at the school.
UT Martin (8-18/2-8) was held to a just a .090 hitting clip. Setter Amanda Crask topped the Skyhawks with six kills.
Leading 5-3 in the opening set, Morehead State erupted for a 9-0 run to put it out of reach. UTM committed five attack errors in the scoring flurry for MSU.
The hosts built a 10-5 advantage in the second set, but McDermott capped an 11-4 Eagle run with a kill to push the visitors to a 16-14 lead they never relinquished. UTM tied it at 18, but MSU ended with a 7-2 run.
The teams deadlocked at 11 in the third frame, but Bohannon served on 10 straight points, including a pair of aces.
BELMONT 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball (14-12, 7-3) extended its win streak to six with a sweep of Jacksonville State Saturday in the Curb Event Center.
Jacksonville State struck first, but senior Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) answered quickly to put the Bruins on the board. Throughout the set, both teams exchanged points with the Bruins maintaining the lead. JSU got within one, but McCoy came through with a kill, sparking a two-point run.
With the set tied at 23-23, behind kills from seniors Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) and Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Tex.), Belmont took set one, 25-23.
Belmont jumped out a 4-1 lead until JSU scored four straight points to take a 5-4 lead. A kill from Myer silenced the Gamecocks run to tie the set at 5-5. JSU had a short-lived lead until Belmont took a 16-10 lead and continued to extend their lead. A JSU attack error and a kill from sophomore Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) closed the set for Belmont, 25-13.
After the break, both teams exchanged points early. Belmont went on a 6-1 run take a 20-13 lead and they continued to extend their lead. Behind kills from Myer and freshman Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.) and a team block, Belmont took the set point. A kill from Miranda ended the set, 25-14.
Myer led the Bruins with 15 kills and hitting .429 while Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) added 12 kills and hit .444. Miranda dished out 42 assists while senior libero Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) registered 22 digs.
Jacksonville State was led by Emily Rutherford with nine kills while Kelly Cole had a team-best 14 digs.
MURRAY STATE 3, SIUE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - After dropping a season-worst fourth consecutive game last night against Eastern Illinois, Murray State volleyball came out firing this afternoon, determined to get a win against SIU-Edwardsville. The Racers (13-11, 3-7 OVC) did just that, taking care of the Cougars in three sets, 26-24, 25-16, 27-25.
The Racers spread the ball around, getting contributions from all. Scottie Ingram led the team with 11 kills and completed the double-double with 13 digs. Sam Bedard's streak of five straight double-doubles came to an end. She still led the Racers with 33 assists and picked up nine digs.
These two squads were ranked in the NCAA top-10 in digs coming into the match and both played strong on the defensive end. The Racers came out on top in the battle of digs 63-51 and Ellie Lorenz led the way with a match-high 19. MSU also put back seven blocks, getting three apiece from Alyssa Lelm, Bedard and Kamille Jones.
Murray State scored the opening point and never trailed in the first set. That didn't mean it was an easy victory for the Racers. SIUE nearly pulled off a tremendous come back. Down 24-18, the Cougars scored six straight points to tie the set and send it into extra points. MSU took a 25-24 advantage on a Cougar attack error and put the set away with a kill from Emily Schmahl.
Neither team gained much of an advantage in the early stages of set No. 2. Trailing by one, 7-6, Murray State went on to score eight straight points to take a 14-7 lead. SIUE was able to trim the lead to three, 19-16, but Murray State closed the set scoring the final six points, getting a pair of kills from Taylor Olden and another from Jones during the run.
The third and final set was a frenzy that saw 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The set was a series of runs, as each team claimed four stretches of at least three consecutive points. Trailing 6-5, Murray State made the first run of the set, scoring five straight to take a 10-6 lead. The Cougars bounced right back to even the set at 10-all with a 4-0 run of their own. After Murray State regained a two point edge, 12-10, SIUE saw another 4-0 spurt to retake the lead, 14-12. The Cougars would extend their lead to four, 18-14, their largest of the set. It was now the Racers turn to rattle off four consecutive points, evening the set at 18-apiece. Similar to the first set, MSU found themselves at match-point but could put SIUE away. The Cougars rallied down 24-22 to retake the lead, 25-24. With a fourth set looming, the Racers scored the final three points on kills from Olden and Ingram and a Lorenz service ace to end the match and sweep the Cougars.
Following the match, coach Schwepker spoke about the differences between last night's match and today's, "Our passing was much better. It was a lot crisper and it allowed for our hitters to be in the right position. If your passing is off it makes everything more difficult, but we did a much better job of that today and were able to come out with a much-needed win."
Cori Harris led the Cougars with a match-high 13 kills. Chelsea Colclasure finished with 17 digs and Mallory Mangun dished out a match-high 36 assists.