TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 3, Alabama A&M 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-19)
UMKC 3,
@SIUE 1 (25-16, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22)
@Belmont 3, Evansville 1 (25-19, 18-25, 25-21, 29-27)
@Southern Illinois 3,
Murray State 1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-10, 25-11)
UMKC 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE middle blocker Kelsey Augustine unloaded a season-high 17 kills Tuesday but the Cougars dropped a 25-16, 22-25, 25-20, 25-22 decision to Kansas City at the Vadalabene Center.
Augustine also hit a team-best .412 for the Cougars, which dropped to 2-8 overall.
Fellow senior Hilary Trevino matched her career best in kills with 15.
The Kangaroos, now 6-5, got off to a strong start with 17 kills and just two errors in the opening set. Sydney Crimmins, who led Kansas City with 17 kills, got her team off to a strong start.
Kansas City had as much as an 11-point lead in the opening set behind the serving of Jessica Hendin.
The Cougars fought back in set two to even up the match. SIUE recorded 17 kills in the set with seven coming from Augustine.
SIUE libero Chelsea Colclasure continued her strong play on defense. The Ohio Valley Conference's leader in digs tallied a season-best 29 digs Tuesday.
The Cougars and the Kangaroos battled back and forth over the next two sets. There were 21 ties and 12 lead changes in the second half of the game.
Johnson and the Cougars got a spark off the bench from setter Kaitlyn O'Reilly. She had eight assists in limited playing time during the fourth set.
UMKC hit .258 for the match and outdueled SIUE in kills 58-54.
Next up for the Cougars is the second home tournament of the season. SIUE welcomes DePaul (9-0), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (4-13), and Georgia State (4-7) this weekend for the SIUE Cougar Invitational. The two-day tournament begins Friday at the Vadalabene Center.
BELMONT 3, EVANSVILLE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont volleyball team (4-9) snapped a three-game skid with a 3-1 win over Evansville Tuesday evening in the Curb Event Center.
Allison McCoy (Huntington Beach, Calif.) got things started for Belmont in the opening set. A kill from McCoy a little sparked a 7-1 run to push the Bruins ahead, 10-3. Evansville tried to close the gap, but was unsuccessful as Belmont continued to extend its lead and win the set, 25-19.
The Purple Aces got on the board first in set two, taking a 2-0 lead and they maintained their lead throughout. Belmont tied the set at 8 on a UE attack error and was able to keep the set close, before Evansville went on a 8-3 run to take a 19-3 advantage. The Purple Aces closed the set scoring six straight points, 25-18, to tie the match at one apiece.
After the break, Evansville kept their momentum jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Behind kills from McCoy, Jen Myer (New Braunfels, Tex.) and some UE attack errors, the Bruins brought the third set within two, 7-5.
With the set tied at 13, a kill from McCoy sparked three straight points to give Belmont thier first lead of the set. The Bruins took a five-point lead before Evansville went on a 4-0 run, bringing the set within one, but Myer silenced their run. A pair of kills from Myer and one from Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) finished the set, 25-21.
In the fourth set, Evansville maintained an early lead, but Belmont overcame the deficit to win the set, 29-27. Kills from Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and Vestal tied the set at 20 and then both teams just went on to exchange points back and forth. After the set was tied at 20, the score was tied four more times. Belmont was able to end the set behind kills from Gable and Vestal were able to end the set.
Myer led the Bruins with a season high 15 kills. The senior also recorded her first double-double of the season with 24 digs. Vestal also had a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Gable and McCoy both had 13 kills as well. Jamie Lundstrom (La Grange, Ill.) registered 26 digs, while Hannah Miranda (Covington, La.) dished out 58 assists.
Belmont hosts their second tournament of the season in the team's final non-conference match-ups this season. The Bruins open tournament play Friday, September 20 against Mississippi State at 6:30pm.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, ALABAMA A&M 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tigers returned home Tuesday with a roar knocking off rival Alabama A&M at Kean Hall on Tuesday evening. TSU swept all three sets, 25-16, 25-15, 25-19 to improve to 2-5 on the season as AAMU dropped to 0-11.
The Tigers outhit the Bulldogs .371 to .187. Junior Naomi Wells hit at a .615 clip as she delivered 18 kills with just two errors on 26 attempts. Sherryce Butler added 10 kills in 21 attempts for a .381 average.
Taylor Patterson entered early in the first set for senior setter Erika Moss who left with an injury. Patterson finished the night with 30 assists, two service aces and added four kills. The play by the freshman setter allowed Moss to sit out the remainder of the evening.
After going down 2-0 to start the opening frame the Tigers were able to rally behind a 17-6 run to lead the match 17-8. Naomi Wells paced the tigers racking up seven kills in the set while posting a .700 hitting percentage. TSU would close out the opening fame downing the Bulldogs 25-16 giving them the early 1-0 set lead.
The Tigers would continue their momentum into the second set jumping out to an early 15-8 lead. After an Alabama A&M timeout the Bulldogs would cut the TSU lead down to seven at 20-13. Tennessee State would respond with a 5-2 run and win the second set 25-15.
Tennessee State would continue their roll into the third set jumping out to a 10-4 run. The Bulldogs would scrap their way back into the set cutting the Tigers lead to 16-14. TSU would respond going on a 5-1 run that would enable the Tigers to cruise to a 25-19 match winning set victory.
The Tigers travel to compete at the Charlotte Invitational for their final non-conference tournament of the season. TSU opens play on Friday at 4:30pm against Elon.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3, MURRAY STATE 1
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Racer volleyball entered their match Tuesday night winning six of their last seven games and three in a row. Their winning streak was ended at the hands of Southern Illinois 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 10-25, 11-25), dropping them to 7-4 on the year.
In many ways, Tuesday's match played like two separate matches. The two squads were knotted up 1-1 after playing two tightly contested sets. The Salukis took the first with a late charge. Up by just a point, 15-14, Southern Illinois scored the next four points, taking a five point advantage and winning by that same margin.
Set No. 2 was a near mirror image of the first. The teams were deadlocked at 20 apiece and after the Salukis took a brief 21-20 lead, MSU scored five of the next six points to even up the match. The Racers offense landed four kills down the stretch, including two from Alyssa Lelm.
Southern Illinois shut MSU down after that, only allowing a combined 21 points the final two sets. After the Racers cut the Saluki lead down to 7-5 in set No. 3, SIU went on a 7-0 run to put the match out of reach, winning 25-10. The Racer offense continued to struggle in the fourth set, landing only seven kills and committing eight attack errors.
After committing only six attack errors in the first two sets, Murray State committed 15 in the final two. Southern Illinois committed 13 attack errors the entire match and hit .373 compared to MSU's .171.
Kamille Jones set a new career-high notching double-digit kills for the first time with a team-high 14. Lelm was the only other Racer to finish in double-digit kills landing 10 to go along with three blocks.
Jessica Whitehead led the Salukis with 25 kills and Hannah Kaminsky dished out 57 assists.
Murray State will head back on the road for their final weekend tournament of the season. The Racers will travel to High Point, N.C. to take on Davidson Friday night (6:30 p.m.) and High Point (12 p.m.) and North Carolina A&T (4 p.m.) Saturday afternoon.