SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 3, UT Martin 0 (25-20, 25-22, 25-21)
Murray State 3, @SIUE 1 (24-26, 25-15, 25-23, 25-11)
Belmont 3, @Jacksonville State 2 (25-22, 20-25, 25-18, 25-16, 15-12)
@Eastern Illinois 3, Austin Peay 2 (25-22, 25-18, 21-25, 23-25, 15-7)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Tennessee State 1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-17)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Morehead State 2 (29-27, 17-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, UT MARTIN 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - A strong defensive effort led Eastern Kentucky to a 3-0 victory over Tennessee-Martin on Saturday. Five Colonels registered seven or more digs to limit the Skyhawks to a .045 attack percentage.
Set scores were 25-20, 25-22 and 25-21.
EKU improves to 15-7 this season and 5-1 in Ohio Valley Conference matches. The Colonels also remain undefeated at home, moving to 4-0 in the friendly confines of McBrayer Arena.
Dena Ott led all players with 28 digs. Freshman Mallory Maxwell added 10. Julia Mindlina contributed nine digs while Johanna Boyer and Abbey Cvelbar finished with seven each. Eastern Kentucky had six more digs (72-66) than UT Martin, limiting the Skyhawks to 30 kills in three sets.
Senior Alexis Plagens led the Eastern offensive attack with 13 kills. She also had two aces, four digs and a block. Rachel Vick had nine kills, only one error and a .364 attack percentage.
As a team, EKU totaled 46 kills and 24 errors in 145 attempts for a .152 attack percentage.
Emily Keaton had a match-high 15 kills for Tennessee-Martin (9-11, 2-4 OVC).
UTM cut a 7-point Eastern lead to three, 22-19, late in the first set. A kill by Boyer gave the home squad set-point and moments later a kill by Plagens finished off the set 25-20. The second set was close late as well. A kill by Keaton and an EKU error got the Skyhawks within two, 23-21. Vick answered with a kill for set-point and after UT Martin scored again, the junior finished off the set with a kill and staked her team to a 2-0 lead.
The same theme held true for the third set as well. After a kill by UTM’s Keaton, Eastern was in front by only one, 21-20. The Colonels had a two-point lead when Ciera Koons registered a kill to reach match-point, 24-21. On the next serve, Ott recorded an ace to end the match.
MURRAY STATE 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE won the opening set Saturday, but dropped a four-set decision to visiting Murray State in Ohio Valley Conference volleyball at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars took the opening set 26-24, but the Racers built momentum to win the next three sets 25-15, 25-23, 25-11. SIUE fell to 9-12 overall and 1-5 in the OVC.
Scottie Ingram and Kristen Besselsen recorded 17 kills each for the Racers, which improved to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in the OVC.
Taylor Held and Ashley Witt led the Cougars with 12 kills each. Johnson said Murray State did a nice job of neutralizing SIUE middle blocker Kristen Torre, who had seven kills.
BELMONT 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team dropped its first Ohio Valley Conference match of the season, 3-2 to Belmont on Saturday afternoon at Pete Mathews Coliseum.
After a 5-0 start to open conference action, the Gamecocks (12-9, 5-1 OVC) fell to a tough Belmont squad 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 12-15). The loss snapped a six-game win streak for Jax State and was the first defeat at home this season.
Freshman Allyson Zuhlke had a big day with a team-high 15 kills on a .393 attack percentage. Senior Nicole Merget had the next best with 12 kills and Emily Rutherford was the third and final Gamecock in double digits with 10 kills. Freshman setter Jennifer Hart paced the offense with 40 of JSU's 45 assists.
Defensively, Samantha Bohne led the way recording 25 digs followed by Brianne Glidewell's 11. Glidewell also had eight kills and three blocks in a strong performance.
JSU trailed in the opening set 20-15 late but rallied to tie the set 22-22 following a pair of Glidewell kills. Still, Belmont would get the final three points to take the set.
In the second set, Belmont jumped out to an early lead but JSU would come back and build a 16-11 lead. After the set was tied 18-18, the Gamecocks finished on a 7-2 run to win the set and tie the match heading into the break.
The third set would see JSU hit a match best .344 combined to power to a 25-18 set win. Zuhlke had seven of her 15 kills in the third set alone on an outstanding .875 attack percentage.
As strong as the third set was for JSU, the fourth turned out to be the opposite. After taking a 7-6 lead, the Bruins never slowed on their way to a 25-16 set win to force a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth, the Gamecocks took a 10-8 lead on a Rutherford kill but a Belmont timeout ceased momentum as the Bruins responded with a 7-2 run to end the match.
Belmont had four players with double-digit kills led by Jocelyn Youngdahl's 18 and nearly all coming from Emma Price's 69 assists.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, AUSITN PEAY 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - – For the second consecutive match, four Panthers tallied double-digit kills, yet this time around the Eastern Illinois volleyball squad also picked up a key Ohio Valley Conference victory over rival Austin Peay in a five-set marathon (25-22, 25-17, 21-25, 23-25, 15-17) at home in Lantz Arena.
With the victory, the Panthers move to 8-11 overall and 2-4 in league play, while the Lady Govs, who entered the weekend tied for first place in conference standings, dropped to 10-12 and 4-2 with their second straight five-set road defeat, as they previously fell at SIUE on Friday night.
Fresh off her 14 kills against Murray State last evening, freshman Maria Brown upped her game with a team-best 16 put-downs and added 21 digs to nab her first career double-double, as she hit .244 for the match and added an ace and three blocks.
Junior Chelsea Lee followed with 15 kills, while newcomer Allie Hueston delivered 13 put-downs with just one hitting error to earn a .364 attack, and led her squad at the net with six blocks. Redshirt freshman Josie Winner chipped in ten additional kills and hit .533 in the victory.
Junior setter Marah Bradbury dished out 53 assists and came one dig shy of yet another duo-duo performance as she upped nine APSU attacks and added three blocks and an ace.
Junior libero Stephanie Wallace led all players on the court with 22 digs, while fellow defensive specialists Kelsey Brooke and Dakota Springer added 20 and 11 digs, with Springer also finishing with two unreturnable serves.
Team-wise, the Panthers held one of the OVC's top hitting squads to a low .161 attack, which included a .026 and .000 clip in sets one and five, respectively. Overall EIU lead Peay in kills (67-to-60), attack (.209-to-.161), assists (63-to-56), aces (seven-to-three), digs (92-to-78), and points (83.0-to-.73.0). The Lady Govs held a slight lead in total blocks (ten-to-nine), but also committed three more blocking and service errors than Eastern.
APSU was led by senior Jada Stotts' 17 kills, while sophomore Sammie Ebright and senior Liz Landon added 13 and 10 putdowns, respectively, while also registering six blocks a piece. Stotts and Ebright also garnered double-doubles of their own with additional 16 and 10 dig numbers.
The two hour match featured 25 ties and 11 lead changes as the host squad got off to a hot start in the opening frame, holding APSU to nearly a negative attack en route to the 25-22 win, as the Lady Govs battled back after being down 17-10 and tying the score at 22-all. But three consecutive kills by Brown would give EIU the early lead.
In the second frame, Eastern led from start to finish thanks to an early 5-0 advantage and eventual 11-4 score. The visitors would again make a move to pull to within 18-16 of the Panthers, but two putdowns by Lee would move EIU closer to the eventual 25-17 win and 2-0 match advantage.
Set three alone had 12 ties and six lead changes as both squads battled point-for-point yet the Lady Govs avoided the sweep with a late run to win, 25-21.
The fourth frame would again be tight as EIU enjoyed a four-point advantage before APSU countered to eventually tie it up at 23-all and push the match to a fifth and deciding frame with two straight kills by Christina White.
After an early 1-1 tie, the Panthers took control of the deciding set as EIU had zero hitting errors for a .421 attack to completely take the Lady Govs out of their offense. APSU hit zero in the final frame as EIU doubled the Govs score at 8-4, 10-5 and 12-6 before eventually winning 15-7 off a key service ace by Wallace.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - On Saturday afternoon, neither team could quite find a rhythm, but the Tennessee Tech volleyball team was able to outlast the Tennessee State Tigers, winning 3-1; 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-17.
The Golden Eagles (8-14, 3-2) put away the Tigers in their most offensive set, tallying 16 kills as a team, while hitting a match-best .282. Freshman K'Vonna Johnson had five of her eight kills in the fourth and deciding set. Fellow freshmen Jordan Wachowiak and Kellie Williams and junior Cody Dodd each added three kills to close out the Tigers in four.
Williams led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills on the night, adding two digs and two blocks. Dodd finished with nine kills, adding eight digs, four blocks, and two service aces. Wachowiak led Tech in blocks, tallying six, while putting away a total of 8 kills.
Redshirt sophomore Alyssa Povey had five timely kills while adding three blocks as well. Sophomore setter Sharon Anderson dished out 38 assists while recording 10 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
The Golden Eagles backcourt was covered tonight as Tech tallied 66 digs as a team, led by senior libero Courtney Smith who scooped up 21. Senior Allison May added a season-high nine digs, playing in just her third match back from injury of the season. Sophomore defensive specialist Kennedy Wade was a spark from the service line as she cranked out a career-high four service aces.
The Tennessee State Tigers (8-13, 2-3) were led by middle blocker Haley Hampton who put down a match-high 19 kills on an impressive .333 hitting percentage. Senior Naomi Wells recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs.
The Tigers recorded 43 kills to Tech's 42, but efficiency was key as Tech hit a clip of .144 to TSU's .067.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, MOREHEAD STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team recorded 19 blocks and hit .400 in the final set to post a 29-27, 17-25, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11 win over Morehead State on Saturday afternoon at Wetherby Gym. The match featured 40 ties and 11 lead changes.
The Redhawks improve to 6-13 overall, 2-4 in Ohio Valley Conference action and 2-7 on the road. The Eagles slip to 0-18 overall, 0-6 in league play and 0-9 at home. SEMO snaps a seven-match losing streak against MSU and improves to 27-20 in the all-time series.
The teams alternated set victories throughout the match. Southeast Missouri's wins included a combined 32 even scores and every lead change. The Redhawks posted six solo blocks and 26 block assists in the contest, in addition to having a 65-59 digs advantage.
Junior middle blocker Taylor Masterson and freshman middle blocker Nzingha Clarke notched nine blocks apiece for SEMO. Masterson also hit .684, with a match-high 14 kills in 19 attempts, while senior right-side hitter Kelsey Keeve hit .393, with 13 kills in 28 swings.
Senior outside hitter Andrea Baylin collected a team-best 17 digs for the Redhawks, while sophomore setter Katarina Rotta dished out a team-high 29 assists. SEMO registered a .188 attack percentage for the match, with its best set average of .350 coming in the second.
Sophomore middle blocker Sydney Schuler paced Morehead State with a career-high 13 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Bailey Nichol managed her second triple double for the Eagles with 24 assists, 12 kills and 10 digs. She also tallied four blocks while hitting .250.
Two of MSU's middle blockers, junior Hannah Sigala and senior Laura McDermott, combined for 24 kills and 10 blocks. Sigala had with 12 winners, on her way to a .320 attack percentage, and six rejections, while McDermott notched 12 smackdowns and stopped four swings.
The Eagles managed a 67-57 upper hand in kills, but committed 15 service errors. MSU hit a sizzling .531 in the second period, but settled for three set percentages below .200.