FRIDAY'S SCORES
Austin Peay 3, @Southeast Missouri 0 (25-20, 25-21, 30-28)
@Eastern Illinois 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20)
@Belmont 3, Jacksonville State 0 (25-19, 25-22, 30-28)
Murray State 3, @UT Martin 0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20)
@SIUE 3, Morehead State 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-23)
Tennessee Tech 3, @Tennessee State 2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 16-25, 15-6)
AUSTIN PEAY 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Senior middle blocker Hillary Plybon had 11 kills and four blocks as Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team swept Southeast Missouri (25-20, 25-21, 30-28) in Ohio Valley Conference contest, Friday night at Houck Field House.
Austin Peay (14-15, 8-5 OVC) won its third-straight match and moved into sole possession of fourth place in the league standings. The Lady Govs won in Cape Girardeau for only the sixth time in 25 matches and for the first time since 2010.
The Lady Govs set the tone early in the first set, opening with a 6-2 run. Southeast Missouri spurred the run with three straight attack errors, one coming courtesy an Austin Peay block. Austin Peay maintained the lead the rest of the way, closing the set with a pair of points on junior setter Aubrey Marsellis’ service.
Austin Peay attempted to break away early in the second set, charging out to a 6-3 lead. However, Southeast Missouri reeled the Lady Govs back in and tied the set, 13-13. Austin Peay saw its seniors respond as Plybon recorded a kill and outside hitter Jada Stotts’ block to build a 15-13 lead. The Lady Govs maintained that advantage and closed the set with a 5-2 run to clinch a 25-21 victory.
The third set was all about big runs early and a battle late with nine lead changes and 17 ties. After running out to a 7-3 lead, the Lady Govs found themselves trailing 21-16 when Mott inserted sophomore outside hitter Sammie Ebright, who left APSU’s last match due to an injury, for the first time. Ebright posted a kill on her first attempt and had three kills in Austin Peay’s 7-2 run that tied the set, 23-23.
From there, Austin Peay got to match point first after freshman Kelly Ferguson and Marsellis combined on a block. Southeast Missouri battled back with consecutive kills to earn a set point chance. The Lady Govs fended off that point and another before scoring back-to-back points to gain another match point opportunity. The Lady Govs would have to fight through two more match points before Ebright ended the match with her fourth kill.
Plybon’s 11-kill outing was her fourth straight double-digit kill outing and she led APSU with four blocks. Marsellis and Stotts had 10 kills each. The Lady Govs finished with 49 kills and a .211 attack percentage in the match.
Andrea Baylin and Taylor Masterson each had 10 kills to pace the Southeast Missouri offense. The Redhawks recorded just 36 kills in the loss and were held to a .123 attack percentage.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois volleyball nabbed their second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference sweep as the Panthers upset Eastern Kentucky (25-22, 25-19, 25-20) on Friday (Oct. 7) evening at Lantz Arena.
The victory ups the Panther record to 6-7 in the league and 12-14 overall, while the Colonels dropped from a second place tie in the OVC standings to third place at 19-12 overall and 9-4 in conference action.
Junior Abby Saalfrank paced all players on the court with a 19 kill, 10 dig double-double, marking her 11th duo-duo performance of the season and 12th all-time. She hit .457 and registered 19 total points in the sweep.
Redshirt-freshman Josie Winner followed with 10 kills of her own, hitting .286 as well and registering the lone Panther solo block for 11 total points.
Junior setter Marah Bradbury earned her own double-double with 45 assists and 11 digs to now sport 31 such performances as a Panther. She led EIU to a .290 attack while nailing four kills of her own off seven attacks and no errors for a .571 clip. She also led her squad behind the service line with a pair of aces and teamed with freshman Allie Hueston for a block as well.
Classmate Kayla Nesbitt and Hueston chipped in respective nine and eight putdowns in the win to round out the Panther attack.
In back row defense, senior Kelsey Brooke tied junior libero Stephanie Wallace by upping 15 EKU attacks, as senior Dakota Springer secured 11 digs of her own.
Meeting for the 36th time, the EIU win helped the Panthers even the all-time series with the Colonels to 18-all, and snapped a recent two-match losing streak. EIU also avenged last year's season-ending defeat to EKU in the OVC tourney.
Team-wise, the Panthers dominated the Colonels in nearly every statistical category, including holding the advantage in kills, attack, assists, aces, digs, and points. EKU did finish ahead of EIU in the blocking game, however as the match featured 19 ties and five lead changes.
The Colonels were led by senior Alexis Plagen's 16 kills, while fellow senior Abbey Cvelbar tallied her own duo-duo off 32 assists and a team-best 14 digs. Junior Rachel Vick added eight additional kills behind a .304 clip, and tied freshman Ciera Koons with four blocks. EIU did hold the current OVC dig-lead, Dena Ott, below her dig average as the EKU senior finished with 11 ups.
The visiting Colonels led early in the opening set, but the Panthers would eventually tie the set up nine times. At 20-all, EIU would score two straight off an EKU error and kill by Lee, to force the first timeout of the match by the Colonels. From that point on, the Panthers would hold on for the eventual 25-22 comeback win for the early match advantage. EIU out-hit EKU, .208-to-.106 in that frame, while the Colonels held a five-to-two block lead.
The second frame also featured ten ties, but also saw four lead changes. Even at 16-all and with Bradbury serving, the Panthers would erupt for six straight points which featured consecutive kills by Saalfrank, a pair of aces by the junior setter and sandwiched between two kills by Winner. EKU would only score just three more points the rest of the way, as the Panthers took the early 2-0 match lead thanks to the 25-19 win. EIU again enjoyed a .389-to-.158 attack lead in that frame.
The third set went the way of the Panthers, as EIU led from start-to-finish, jumping out to 7-1 before the visitors eventually pulled to within 18-16 of the hosts. But three straight Panther points would give EIU the cushion en route to the 25-20 win and first sweep over the Colonels since the 2000 season. EIU just out-hit the Colonels, .300-to-.250 in the last set.
BELMONT 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - – Belmont volleyball held on to sweep Jacksonville State in three sets (25-19, 25-22, 30-28) Friday evening in the Curb Event Center.
The Bruins seemed determined from the first serve as Belmont jumped out to a quick, 5-1 advantage in the opening stanza.
With Belmont leading 13-10 midway through the set, the Bruin hitters heated up as BU recorded seven of the next 10 points all of which were kills.
JSU rallied to get within three points, 21-18, but Belmont tallied four of the next five points in order to capture the set, 25-19.
The Bruins led late in the second stanza, 21-16, before Jacksonville State went on a run to pull within a single point, 21-20.
BU responded to the JSU rally attempt by tallying the next three points, setting up set point, 24-20.
Back-to-back JSU kills extended the stanza for the Gamecocks but the Bruins ended the rally off a kill by middle blocker Maddison Croft (Edwardsville, Ill.) as Belmont took the set, 25-22, and went up two sets to none heading into intermission.
Things were looking good for the Bruins in the third set as Belmont took a 14-10 lead off a kill by senior Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.).
With their hopes of extending the match in jeopardy, Jacksonville State (16-14, 7-6 OVC) mounted a furious comeback attempt as the Gamecocks tallied seven consecutive points in order to pull ahead, 17-14, causing the Bruins to take a timeout.
With Belmont still trailing, 19-16, the Bruins answered by tallying the next four points in order to push ahead, 20-19, causing a JSU timeout.
Out of the huddle, the Gamecocks notched four of the next five points as a BU sweep looked to be in jeopardy with JSU leading, 23-21.
Back-to-back blocks by senior Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) tied the set and a Gable kill gave the Bruins their first chance of ending the match, 24-23.
Back-and-forth play followed as JSU was determined to extend the match into a fourth set.
A Gable kill gave the Bruins their fourth match point of the night and a monstrous kill by freshman Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) ended the thrilling set, 30-28, and gave Belmont its seventh sweep on the year.
Overall, Gable led the Bruins with 14 kills while Person added a double-double with 13 kills and a team-best 15 digs.
Martin finished with five blocks on the evening, two of which were solo efforts.
Setter Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.) finished with another double-double effort with a match-best 41 assists to go with 12 digs.
On the match, Belmont recorded a .213 hitting percentage and limited JSU to a .128 clip.
Senior Nicole Merget's 11 kills led the way for the Gamecocks, while freshman Allyson Zuhlke added nine kills on a .471 attack percentage. Freshman setter Jennifer Hart had 23 assists while JSU only managed to hit .128 combined. Defensively, the Gamecocks were led by junior libero Samantha Bohne's 18 digs. Emily Rutherford was next with 14 digs.
MURRAY STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Murray State volleyball team increased its winning streak to ten with the sweep over UT Martin 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-20) Friday night in Martin, Tennessee. The sweep comes as the 13th sweep of the season for the Racers.
The start of the match and the first set was close between the two. UT Martin (10-17, 3-10 OVC) and Murray State (21-4, 12-1 OVC) were tied 7-7 before Murray State went on an 11-1 run to take a 19-8 advantage. After that, MSU would not give up as they took the first set 25-15.
The second set was tied 1-1 and after that the Racers had the advantage. The Skyhawks tried to come back, but MSU took a 5-1 lead and continued to dominate. Murray State got nine straight points to take a 17-8 advantage. The Racers took the second set 25-16.
During the third set, UTM was looking to come back and led 6-3. Scottie Ingram and Alyssa Lelm gave the Racers the momentum to tie it 6-6. Both teams would go back and forth with points until Murray State took a 15-10 advantage. The Racers would not give up the lead and took the third set and match 25-20.
Two Racers notched double-digit kills. Scottie Ingram had a match high 14 kills to go along with seven digs and three blocks. Taylor Olden recorded 12 kills while only committing three errors on a .526 clip. Sam Bedard put up a match-high 25 assists to go along with eight kills and six digs. Ellie Lorenz dished out a match-high 16 digs.
The Skyhawks were led by Chelsea Bowles’ 15 digs tonight. Madison Bergren and Amanda Crask split time at setter, each handing out 11 assists while seven UT Martin players tallied between three and five kills this evening.
SIUE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball won its fourth straight match Friday with a 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 sweep over Morehead State at the Vadalabene Center.
Kristen Torre collected a match-high 15 kills and dominated the net with a .538 hitting percentage. The Cougars hit .206 as a team, their fifth straight match hitting better than .200.
A crowd of 460 watched as the Cougars improved to 13-15 overall and a 5-8 record in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morehead State, the defending OVC tournament champions, fell to 2-26 overall and 2-11 in the OVC.
It was the first time SIUE has played Morehead State since falling to the Eagles in the 2013 OVC Tournament title game. It also was the first SIUE has defeated Morehead State in eight total meetings.
SIUE set the tone in the opening set with a 7-1 lead behind Taylor Held's serve. Chelsea Colclasure closed out the opening set with a service ace, the team's fourth of the set.
The Cougars raced out to a 7-2 lead in the second set and didn't look back again.
Torre took control of the match in the third set with seven kills. SIUE's Held and Ashley Witt each had seven kills for the match.
Hannah Sigala paced the Eagles with nine kills. Morehead State hit .186 for the match and had six blocks.
Johnson was pleased with her team's ability to put together a rally in the second half of the season.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team needed five sets to put away Tennessee State on Friday night, but they made it happen, moving to 7-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 3-2 (25-22, 21-25, 25-19, 16-25, 15-6) win over the host Tigers.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Golden Eagles (12-17, 7-6) opened with a 6-0 run to take an advantage that would never be relinquished. Sophomore setter Sharon Anderson led the way from the service line, dishing out aces and assists forcing the Tigers to take a time out. Freshman Kellie Williams put down four of her 16 kills in the fifth set, and committed no errors to help lead the Golden Eagles to victory.
Williams finished with four blocks and two digs along with her 16 kills, while hitting a team-best .361. Junior Cody Dodd led the way with a match-high 20 kills, adding nine digs and one block. This was Dodd's third 20+ game of the season. Freshman K'Vonna Johnson added nine kills and a career-best five blocks.
Anderson finished the match with 48 assists, two aces, two assists and eight digs. Senior libero Courtney Smith finished with a match-high 24 digs, while sophomore libero Kennedy Wade added 13.
Tennessee State (9=19, 3-10) was led by Neisha Crocket who put down 15 kills, while Haley Hampton added 11. Setter Sam Beltran dished out 37 assists, adding 11 digs, six kills, and two blocks. Libero Illeanushka Maldonado scooped up 20 digs, while Naomi Wells added 11.