SATURDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 3, Austin Peay 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22)
Murray State 3, @Southeast Missouri 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-16)
@Belmont 3, Tennessee Tech 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-16)
Jacksonville State 3, @Tennessee State 2 (25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 16-25, 15-5)
@SIUE 3, Eastern Kentucky 2 (25-17, 25-27, 25-17, 21-25, 16-14)
@Eastern Illinois 3, Morehead State 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-15)
UT MARTIN 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - – It was a storybook ending for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball seniors Emily Keaton and Allie Whimpey this afternoon, as they closed out their home careers with a dominant 3-0 victory over Austin Peay (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
Both four-year members of the Skyhawk volleyball program, Keaton (13 kills) and Whimpey (12 kills) combined for over half of UT Martin’s 47 kills today. As a team, UT Martin hit .312 (only 13 errors in 109 attempts) – the highest the Skyhawks have hit against an OVC team all season.
Keaton hit .440 while adding 11 digs for her 34th career double-double. Whimpey also hit .321 while Amanda Crask earned the start at setter and produced seven kills (against only one error), 26 assists and six digs. Madison Wessling (12 assists) and Chelsea Bowles (match-high 23 digs) also paced UT Martin, who improved to 11-17 with a 4-10 Ohio Valley Conference record.
Austin Peay, who had previously won three matches in a row, falls to 14-16 overall with an 8-6 conference record.
Austin Peay took a 5-1 lead to begin the first set but back-to-back kills by Keaton cut the Skyhawk deficit to one point (9-8). Three straight Whimpey kills fueled UT Martin to a 14-11 advantage and moments later, an assisted block by Keaton and Alisha Erves resulted in a six-point lead for the Skyhawks at 19-13. The Lady Govs battled back within three points at 22-19 but UT Martin wrapped up the set with three straight points, as a Bowles service ace provided the final 25-19 margin.
Keaton (five kills, six digs) and Whimpey (four kills) led a UT Martin offense that hit .367 (14 kills, three errors) in 30 attempts in the opening set.
The Skyhawks never trailed in the second set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead. Austin Peay managed to even the score at 5-all and 7-all but an Erves kill capped off a 4-0 Skyhawk run that forced Austin Peay to burn a timeout. Whimpey slammed down a kill to pad UT Martin’s lead to 16-11 but the Lady Govs crept back within a point at 20-19. The Skyhawks held on to their lead the rest of the way thanks to a pair of Madison Wessling kills to account for the final two points of the set.
Whimpey (four kills), Crask (three kills, eight assists) and Bowles (eight digs) led the Skyhawks to the win in the second set.
Austin Peay led for a majority of the third set but UT Martin rallied late to seal the sweep. The Lady Govs took a 3-1 lead before a Colleen Larson service ace tilted the score back in the Skyhawks’ favor at 6-5. Austin Peay would later piece together a 7-1 run to go on top by a 13-8 margin and would later push its lead out to 19-13. Keaton then had four kills and a block in the span of five points to help pull UT Martin within two points (21-19) before her senior counterpart Whimpey took over. Whimpey accumulated three straight kills and a block to give the Skyhawks a 24-22 lead before an Austin Peay attack error helped cap off the 6-0 UT Martin run that ended the set.
Keaton (six kills) and Crask (11 assists) helped the offense run smoothly while Bowles shored up the Skyhawk defense with nine clutch digs in the final set.
MURRAY STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Murray State volleyball team won at least a share of their first Ohio Valley Conference regular season championship Saturday against Southeast Missouri State 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-16).
The Redhawks (10-18, 6-8 OVC) came out strong against the Racers (22-4, 13-1 OVC) giving themselves a 5-2 lead. SEMO held the advantage until MSU tied it up 10-10. Murray State was able to gain control of the set with a five-point run to take a 16-13 advantage. The two teams continued to battle back and forth until eventually the Racers won the first set 25-23.
To start the second set, SEMO took a 9-2 lead. Murray State would not go down that easy as they cut the Redhawks lead 11-9. SEMO would continue to have a strong showing in the second holding a 22-18 advantage. Murray State went on a three-point run to cut the lead to 23-21. The Racers took the next four points to take the second set 25-23 off of three kills from Taylor Olden and a service ace from Kristen Besselsen.
The third set was a back and forth set between the two opponents until MSU took a 10-5 advantage. Murray State led 19-9 after a four-point run and eventually took the set and the match 25-16.
Three Racers notched double-doubles. Sam Bedard had a match high 39 assists to go along with 13 digs. Taylor Olden had a match-high 15 kills to go along with 11 digs. Kristen Besslesen added 14 kills and 15 digs. Ellie Lorenz dished out 15 digs, while Scottie Ingram added 10 kills.
BELMONT 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball recorded its second consecutive sweep Saturday as the Bruins defeated Tennessee Tech in three sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-16) in the Curb Event Center.
Offensively, Belmont (15-13, 11-3 OVC) recorded its fourth-best hitting percentage on the season as the Bruins finished with a .289 clip.
Freshman Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) led the way as the outside hitter recorded her second consecutive double-double performance with a match-best 17 kills to go along with 16 digs.
Senior Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) added nine kills while middle blocker Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) finished with a team-high .400 hitting percentage with six kills off 10 swings.
Setter Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.) had an excellent outing setting up her teammates as the redshirt freshman finished with a match-high 35 assists with no errors to go with seven digs.
BU also solid on the defensive end as the Bruins held Tennessee Tech (12-18, 7-7 OVC) to a 0.061 hitting percentage on the contest. Person led with a pair of solo blocks.
With two matches left in the regular season, Belmont currently sits alone in second place with an 11-3 record.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -The Jacksonville State volleyball team held on to defeat Tennessee State in five sets on Saturday afternoon in Ohio Valley Conference action and helped its cause for solidifying a spot in the conference tournament.
The Gamecocks (17-14, 8-6 OVC) opened with a two set-set advantage over the Tigers (9-20, 3-11 OVC) but needed to go five sets for the 3-2 (25-22, 25-23, 17-25, 16-25, 15-5) victory. The seventeenth win of the season is the most for Jax State since the 2009 campaign. The win also clinched at least a .500 record under first year head coach Terry Gamble, the Gamecocks' first since 2010.
Senior Nicole Merget had 16 kills on a .389 attack percentage to lead the Gamecocks, while junior Emily Rutherford added 15. Rutherford was one of two players with a double-double performance as she also had 12 digs on the defensive side of the net. Freshman Charis Ludtke also posted a double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Freshman Allyson Zuhlke had 11 kills in the win.
Freshman setter Jennifer Hart dished 45 assists, while junior libero Samantha Bohne led defensively with 13 digs.
The Gamecocks erased an early 5-0 deficit to begin the match coming back to tie the first set 10-10. Rutherford had five kills in the opening frame to lead the Gamecocks in the come-from-behind 25-22 set victory.
The second set was another tight battle that went back-and-forth. TSU held a late 21-19 lead, but a 3-0 run by JSU gave the Gamecocks the late advantage. TSU tied the set 23-23 before Merget ended it with a kill and a block to lead JSU to to the 25-23 win.
The Tigers used a .436 attack percentage to overpower JSU in the third set to avoid being swept. Following an 8-8 tie, TSU began to pull away. TSU used a 5-1 run to build its lead to 13-9 and finished with a 5-1 run to win the set 25-17.
TSU's hard hitting carried over into the fourth set where the Tigers opened with a 15-6 lead that was too much for JSU overcome. Tennessee State forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-26 set win.
In the final set, a service error by the Tigers gave the Gamecocks an early 5-4 advantage. From there, JSU took control of the match with a 10-0 run which paved the way for the 15-5 set win.
SIUE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball ran its winning streak to a season-high five matches with a five-set victory over Eastern Kentucky on Senior Day at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars improved to 14-15 overall and 6-8 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 25-17, 25-27, 25-17, 21-25, 16-14 win. Eastern Kentucky dropped to 19-13 overall and 9-5 in the OVC.
SIUE celebrated seniors Chelsea Colclasure and Haley Norris before the match, and the two defenders fueled the Cougar defense Saturday. Colclasure turned in a season-best 31 digs while Norris was second on the team with 12.
Kristen Torre turned in another strong performance on offense with 19 kills. Ashley Witt added 10, including three in the fifth set.
SIUE raced out to an 8-0 lead in the opening set behind Colclasure's serve. She finished with a team-best three service aces. Torre picked up six kills in the opening set.
EKU, led by 16 kills from Alexis Plagens, came from behind in the second set to even the match. Johnson said the Colonels picked up their defensive game in set two.
The Cougars responded with another strong third set, hitting .591 on 13 kills. Leading 19-17, Colclasure's serve once again foiled EKU as she served out the set.
The crowd of 233 was treated to a fifth set after EKU's Johanna Boyer closed out the fourth set with a kill.
There were two ties and one lead change in the fifth set. EKU avoided one match point, but Colclasure served out the match to give the Cougars the win.
The Cougars finished with a season-best 90 digs, the most since collecting 88 against Jacksonville State to open the OVC season.
EASTERN ILLINIOS 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois volleyball hit past visiting Morehead State (25-20, 25-21, 25-15) on Saturday evening to earn the Panthers' third consecutive Ohio Valley Conference sweep.
The win moves EIU to 13-14 overall and even 7-7 in league action to now tie for sixth place in the conference standings. The Eagles drop to 2-27 and 2-12, respectively.
Junior Abby Saalfrank led all players with a 15 kill, 14 dig double-double performance, as now sports 13 all-time in her career. The rightside attacker also finished with a fine .464 attack while also delivering a pair of aces.
Classmate Chelsea Lee added 12 kills of her own behind a .400 clip, while also earning a pair of blocks.
Fellow junior Marah Bradbury handed out 38 assists, while helping lead Eastern to a .293 match attack. She also had a fine night at the net defensively, tying freshmanAllie Hueston with five stuffs apiece. Hueston and junior Kayla Nesbitt each tallied six kills as well in the win.
In back court defense, junior libero Stephanie Wallace upped 18 Eagle attacks, senior Kelsey Brooke registered 11 additional Panther digs.
Prior to the match, the Panthers honored four senior -- Kelsey Brooke, Katie Kirby, Kelsey Roggemann, and Dakota Springer -- for their multi-year contributions to the EIU volleyball program.
The visiting Eagles were led by senior Laura McDermott's eight kills, as no Morehead State player earned double-digit kills. Senior setter Colbey Cameron had four kills and zero errors to hit .400, while another MOR senior, Alex Fitzmorris, tied junior Hannah Sigala with seven put-downs. Fitzmorris also had no hitting miscues to sport a .304 attack in the loss. Defensively, sophomore libero Hope Rillema led all players on the court 20 digs, while SIgala led the blocking with four roofs.
Team-wise, the Panthers held the advantage over the Eagles in every statistical category, including kills, attack, assists, aces, digs, blocks, and points.
Meeting for the 33rd time, the Panther win helps EIU now lead the all-time series with the Eagle, 17-16, and snaps a two-match losing streak in the history between the two schools.
The Panthers led the opening frame nearly start-to-finish, as the visiting squad only was only able to tie EIU on four occasions. EIU out-hit MOR, .262-to-.189 in that frame to earn the 25-20 victory.
The second set was the tightest as it had seven ties and four lead changes. EIU jumped out to a 4-0 advantage before enjoying a 6-3 lead, yet the Eagles would go on a run to tie it up finally at 7-all. However the last tie would come about at 13-all as two Eagle miscues and a kill by freshman Josie Winner would give Eastern the three-point cushion. The hosts would push ahead some more up 21-17, but the Eagles would again counter to pull within 21-20 of Eastern. However, a final 4-1 EIU run would give the Panthers the 25-21 win and two-set lead.
The third frame started tight on both sides, but EIU would bust out of the 4-all tie with a 10-4 run. Eastern would maintain the eight and nine point advantage en route to the easy 25-15 third set victory and first sweep of the Eagles since upsetting the then OVC leading squad back in 2011.