SATURDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 3, @Tennessee State 1 (17-25, 25-14, 25-19, 30-28)
@Jacksonville State 3, UT Martin 0 (25-15, 25-19, 25-22)
@Belmont 3, Eastern Ilinois 1 (25-14, 25-23, 25-27, 25-18)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Tennessee Tech 0 (24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17)
Murray State 3, @Eastern Kentucky 1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-19, 25-16)
@Morehead State 3, Austin Peay 1 (25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22)
SIUE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE volleyball will enter next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on the upswing.
The Cougars lost the first set and then surged in the next three sets for a 17-25, 25-14, 25-19, 30-28 victory over the Tigers at Kean Hall.
Freshman Alicia Streetar led all players with 14 kills. She was among four players with double figures in kills. Cori Harris and Kristen Torre each finished with 13 kills. Taylor Held added 10.
The Cougars started slow as Tennessee State, 10-17 overall and 6-10, got off to a strong start by hitting .500 in the opening set. Taylor Swayzer led four TSU players in double figures kills with 13.
SIUE took that adversity and picked up their game in set two. The Cougars raced out to a 14-2 lead in the set. Three services aces between Kasey Schumacher and Chelsea Colclasure aided the Cougars.
Freshman Mallory Mangun finished with 49 assists and completed the OVC season by 11.02 assists per set. Mangun is among the top three setters in the league in that statistical category.
The Tiger had three attackers posting double-digit kill totals. Junior Taylor Swayzer led the group with 13 winners. Redshirt junior Naomi Wells and freshman Arijana Anderson both recorded 10 kills. Senior Erika Moss recorded 40 assists and 11 digs for her 12th double-double of the season.
SIUE hit .250 for the match while Tennessee State hit .189.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team closed out the 2013 season with a sweep over Ohio Valley Conference rival UT Martin on Saturday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
The Gamecocks (13-18, 6-10 OVC) hit .282 on the day while holding the Skyhawks (9-23, 3-13 OVC) to a .092 hitting percentage in the 25-15, 25-19, 25-22 victory. JSU had a chance to sneak into the OVC Tournament with the sweep if SIU Edwardsville could manage a sweep over Tennessee State but the Tigers managed to win one set in the 3-1 defeat to end the Gamecocks' season.
Junior Nicole Merget led the Gamecocks with 10 kills on a .348 attack percentage while freshman Kacy Clinkenbeard added nine kills. Senior setter Abbey Heredia finished the day with 37 assists while senior Kelly Cole led JSU with 15 digs.
Madison Wessling led UTM with 11 kills while Amanda Crask led the Skyhawks with 22 assists. Defensively, Chelsea Bowles led the way with 14 digs.
Merget led JSU with five kills while Clinkenbeard added four kills in the Gamecocks 25-15 opening set victory. JSU limited UTM to a -.051 in the set while racing out to an early 9-2 run. The Skyhawks would manage to cut the lead to 12-9 off an error by the Gamecocks but that would be as close as UTM would get as the Gamecocks would force nine attack errors in the set to pull away.
With the second set tied 11-11, the Gamecocks used a 7-2 run to pull away for a 18-13 lead. From there, the Gamecocks used servce aces from Heredia and Bohne while pulling away for the 25-19 victory. Overall, the Gamecocks finished the set with four aces while sophomore Emily Rutherford led JSU with three kills.
The Gamecocks then used a .485 attack percentage in the third set to hold off UTM for the 25-22 victory. Rutherford again led the way with four kills thanks to two service aces. Holding onto a 21-20 lead, Clinkenbeard gave JSU a 22-20 lead with a kill to force a timeout by UTM.
Wessling then responded with a kill out of the timeout before Clinkenbeard responded with a kill to give JSU a 23-21 lead. The two teams then swapped points again before freshman Trisha Mockapetris recorded a kill to clinch the 25-22 victory for JSU.
BELMONT 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball (19-13, 12-4) concluded the regular season with a four set win over Eastern Illinois on Senior Day.
In the opening set, Belmont took a 10-0 lead. During the run, junior Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) had back-to-back aces and senior setter Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) posted three kills. Eastern Illinois responded with a pair of kills, but Belmont continued to extend their lead behind a kill from freshman Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.) to put the Bruins ahead, 16-3.
The Panthers scored three straight until a kill from Gable silenced their run. A 3-1 run ended the set for Belmont, 25-14.
Belmont opened the second set with a 6-0 lead before Eastern Illinois scored four unanswered points to cut the Bruins' lead to two, 6-4. A kill from Vestal started a 5-0 run to extend Belmont's lead to 11-4. The Panthers put together a 6-1 run to come within three, 17-14, but a Vestal kill silenced their run.
Both teams exchanged points with EIU cutting Belmont's lead to one point, 24-23 but a kill from Vestal ended the set, 25-23 to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead at the break.
The Bruins got on the board first in the third set and both teams exchanged points. EIU had a 12-11 lead before Belmont scored four straight points sparked by a Panthers serving error. A kill from Gable gave Belmont the set point, 24-22, but EIU responded with three straight points to take a 25-24 lead. A kill from senior Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Tex.) tied the set at 25-25. EIU was able to score two straight points and win the set, 27-25.
In the fourth set, Belmont jumped out to a 10-2 lead. A kill from Vestal sparked another run and continued to extend the Bruins' lead, 20-9. A block by Vestal and senior Danielle Prochaska (Middleton, Wisc.) earned the Bruins the set point, 24-12, but EIU kept the set alive scoring six straight points until a Panthers serving error ended the set, 25-19.
Vestal led the team with 17 kills and senior Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) added 13 kills and hit .423. Miranda dished out 47 assists and senior Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) had 17 digs.
EIU's Chelea Lee led the Panthers with 13 kills while Reynae Hutchinson posted a double-double with 11 kills and 10 digs. Marah Bradbury also tallied a double-double with 37 assists and 15 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team (17-15, 9-7 OVC) brought the 2013 regular season to a close Saturday with a four-set victory over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (5-21, 1-15 OVC) (24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 25-17).
The Golden Eagles stole set one right out from under the Redhawks' noses with a 26-24 opening set win. With the Redhawks serving set point, up 24-21, TTU used a couple Redhawk miscues to put together five unanswered points and swipe the first set.
After having the first set taken from their grasp, the Redhawks were looking to take back what was theirs in the second set. It was a battle to do so as the set was tied a total of nine times and the lead changed four times. Down 14-11, TTU scored five-straight points to take their first lead of the set. Tied at 21, TTU committed three errors to give the Redhawks the lead. Southeast wrapped up the set with a 25-22 win to tie up the match.
Southeast was ready to finish off the Golden Eagles in the third set as Southeast took a 2-1 lead in the match with a 25-16 set win. The Redhawks led the majority of the set. TTU committed 12 hitting errors in the third set while only killing the ball 11 times.
Southeast hit a match-best .385 as a team in the fourth set as they defeated the Golden Eagles 25-17; wrapping up the match, and the 2013 regular season, with a win.
Colleen Yarber put 18 kills on the board Saturday afternoon with a .222 hitting clip. Emily Coon hit 8-of-15 with a very respectable .533 hitting average. Berkley Idel crossed the 1,500 career digs mark with a total of 21 digs for Southeast.
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Kentucky was defeated by Murray State in the last regular season match Saturday at McBrayer Arena.
Murray State won by scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-19, and 25-16.
Alyssa Lelm, led the Racers with 14 kills, 12 total blocks and 22.5 points. Sam Bedard led all players with 42 assists.
Alexis Plagens was the team leader with 13 kills, three services aces, and contributed 16.0 points. Senior Ashley Edmond was second best for the Colonels with 11 kills, seven digs and 11 points. Junior Dena Ott also contributed 33 digs in the Colonels efforts to beat Murray State.
Eastern had 13 kills on 39 attempts, recording a .205 attack percentage, while the Racers recorded a .400 in the first set. Eastern and Murray State both came out swinging. The set saw five ties, the last one coming mid-match with ten apiece. Murray State went on to take the set over Eastern Kentucky, 25-19.
Plagens led the team in points recording five, also making five kills in the Colonels attempt to take the first set.
Murray State took an early lead over EKU, 8-5, in the second set. The Colonels rallied back compliments of Edmond who recorded four kills and Plagens contributed two kills and four points. EKU held off Murray State the remainder of the set to give the Colonels a 25-22 win.
The third set saw a battle back and forth between Eastern and Murray State. Despite the Colonel’s efforts to rally back mid-match the Racer’s took the set, 25-19. The set point was won on a kill by freshman Scottie Ingram to push Murray State to a 2-1 lead.
Plagens added four more kills and scored a total 14.0 points.
Murray State went on to lead the majority of the fourth and final set. The match point was won on a kill by sophomore Lelm giving the Racers the set, 25-16.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - – Four players in double-figure kills highlighted Morehead State volleyball's regular-season finale victory over Austin Peay Saturday at Wetherby Gym. The Eagles defeated the Lady Govs 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-22).
Morehead State finished the regular-season 24-7 overall and 151 in the Ohio Valley Conference. APSU concluded at 12-21 overall and 9-7 in the conference. Morehead State is hosting the OVC Tournament this coming week, and the top-seeded Eagles will battle eighth-seeded Tennessee State on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET. Austin Peay garnered the No. 5 seed and will play No. 4 Southeast Missouri at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
Senior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon led the offense with 13 kills and also had 11 digs. Junior right-side hitter Alex Fitzmorris finished with 12 winners and a .267 hitting efficiency, while junior middle blocker Laura McDermott and sophomore outside hitter Courtney Smith tallied 11 kills apiece.
Senior libero Leslie Schellhaas piled up a match-best 25 digs, while junior setter Colbey Cameron had another double-double with 45 assists and 14 digs. The Eagles committed 26 attack errors in the first three sets, but smashed 19 kills with only seven mistakes in the finale.
MSU held advantages in kills (56-43), assists (53-40) and digs (65-54) while both units blocked nine attempts. The match featured 24 ties and 12 lead changes.
The Eagles gained momentum in the first set after falling behind 21-14. An 8-1 run forced a Lady Gov timeout, and MSU finished the win via an APSU blocking error, an ace by freshman Stacy Silver and a Lady Gov attack error.
The Eagles vaulted to an 8-1 cushion in the second set and never trailed. The visitors eventually tied it at 22 late, but three straight APSU attack errors handed the hosts the three-point victory.
Morehead State found itself trailing 7-3 early in the third but eventually rallied to it at 22. Opposite of the second frame, MSU committed three consecutive attack miscues to give the Lady Govs a three-point win.
The Eagles broke a 17-all stalemate in the final stanza with a quick 3-0 spurt. MSU did not trail again.
MSU hit .150 on the night, and APSU managed a .146 efficiency.