FRIDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Kentucky 3,
@Belmont 2 (23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 16-14)
@Murray State 3, Southeast Missouri 0 (26-24, 25-20, 25-21)
@Tennessee State 3, Morehead State 2 (17-25, 16-25, 32-30, 27-25, 15-12)
@Austin Peay 3, UT Martin 2 (28-26, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 15-11)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Eastern Illinois 1 (25-21, 26-24, 22-25, 25-22)
@Jacksonville State 3, SIUE 2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 15-13)
AUSTIN PEAY 3, UT MARTIN 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior outside hitter Jada Stotts recorded 22 kills, including four in the fifth set, as Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team eked past UT Martin in five sets (28-26, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 15-11), in the Ohio Valley Conference opener for both teams, Friday night, at the Dunn Center.
During the first set, Stotts became the 13th Lady Govs hitter to record 1,000 career kills and finished the match with 1,017 kills. She broke through the 1,000-kill plateau with seven kills in the opening set then seemingly bided her time until making an impact in the fifth set.
In the fifth set, Austin Peay (7-10, 0-1 OVC) used five consecutive points, with kills by Stotts and Strother plus a trio of attack errors by UT Martin, to build a 6-2 lead and force a UTM timeout. The Skyhawks charged back with 7-1 run to take a 9-7 lead after a pair of Lady Govs errors. Stotts would help Austin Peay gain control of the set with three kills in the final four points for the 15-11 win.
Austin Peay won the opening two sets thanks to an incredibly efficient offensive attack. The Lady Govs survived the first set – which featured 18 ties and five lead changes – thanks to an 18-kill effort that saw it post a .333 attack percentage. An easier second set was made possible to a 14-kill, .379-attack performance effort, that was keyed by sophomore outside hitter Sammie Ebright’s seven kills and .875 attack percentage.
However, UT Martin (7-8, 0-1 OVC) turned the tables in sets three and four to reel Austin Peay back in. The Skyhawks recorded 17 kills in each set, posting a .375 attack percentage in Set 3 and a .286 mark in Set 4. The Lady Govs aided their foe with 11 total attack errors in the two sets, setting up the decisive fifth set.
Stotts 22 kills led Austin Peay as she posted a .306 attack percentage. Ebright chipped in 16 kills – seven coming in the second set and another six in the third set – at a .333 attack percentage. Junior outside hitter Samantha Strother finished with 12 kills.
UT Martin senior outside htiter Emily Keaton also surpassed the 1,000-kill plateau, as her match-best 26-kill performance pushed her to 1,009 career kills. Senior outside hitter Allie Whimpey added 15 kills and sophomore middle blocker Julia Devinney finished with 11 kills and a .474 attack percentage.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, BELMONT 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky University’s volleyball team overcame a 2-1 deficit on the road to beat Belmont University, 3-2, on Friday in both teams Ohio Valley Conference opener. Senior Alexis Plagens contributed a team-best 20 kills for the Colonels.
EKU improved to 11-6 this season, and 1-0 in the OVC, after winning by scores of 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, 16-14. Three of the five sets were decided by the minimum two points.
Plagens had eight digs, three blocks and a service ace to go along with her 20 kills. Johanna Boyer had 12 kills, two of which gave Eastern match-point in the fifth set. Rachel Vick had 10 kills, seven digs and five blocks.
Senior setter Abbey Cvelbar recorded 48 assists and 16 digs. Senior libero Dena Ott tied for a match-best 25 digs. EKU finished with 16 more digs than Belmont (91-75).
After falling behind 2-1, the Colonels scored the first three points of the fourth set and never trailed on their way to a comfortable 25-19 victory to set up the decisive fifth set.
The score was tied 11 times in the fifth and the lead changed hands three times. Eastern was just two points away from winning after a Boyer kill put the visitors on top 13-10, but the Bruins scored three straight to tie it for the 10th time. The two teams exchanged points to get to 14-14. A kill by Boyer gave EKU match-point for the second time before a Belmont attack error ended the set, 16-14, and the match.
Eastern Kentucky had two more kills (60-58) and three fewer errors despite finishing with 12 fewer attack than Belmont. The Bruins held a 13-10 advantage in blocks, but committed six more service errors (10-4) than the Colonels.
Arianna Person finished with a match-high 21 kills for Belmont (4-10, 0-1 OVC). Jocelyn Youngdahl added 13 kills.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State University volleyball came back from a two sets to nothing deficit to win their first conference match of the season at home against Morehead State University.
The Tigers (6-9, 1-0 Ohio Valley Conference) defeated the defending conference champion Eagles (0-14, 0-1 OVC) 3-2 in Kean Hall. On the ropes, TSU won the final three sets to take the match. Both senior Naomi Wells and freshman Samantha Beltran recorded double-doubles as Wells had 13 kills and 13 digs while Beltran had 46 assists and 10 digs.
After dropping the first two sets by a combined margin of 17 points, the Tigers were down ot their last set each time they stepped on the court. They responded by winning the third frame 32-30, the fourth 27-25, and the fifth 15-12. The crowd was heavily involved making for a terrific atmosphere in Kean Hall.
Senior Taylor Swayzer led the attack for the Tigers as she put down 14 kills. Sophomore Arijana Anders on and junior Haley Hampton joined the double-digit club with 11 kills each. The offense was driven, though, by freshman Samantha Beltran. The Mississauga, Ontario native put passes on point all night and set up the TSU comeback with authority.
Defensively the Tigers took care of business when they needed to. Senior Ileanushka Maldonado matched Wells 13 digs while senior Jaime Cooper matched Beltran’s 10. Hampton was able to follow up her kill total with five block assists which led the team. Anderson, Beltran, and Swayzer all had a pair of block assists while sophomore Neisha Crockett pitched in with one of her own.
Morehead State had three players reach double-digits in kills with Hannah Sigala leading the way with 18. Bailey Nichol had 15 kills while Alli Evans chipped in 11. Hope Rillema had a match-high 31 digs
TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Coming home seemed to be something the Tennessee Tech volleyball team looked forward too, especially junior opposite Cody Dodd.
Dodd, a local product, led the Golden Eagles as they topped Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois, 3-1; 25-21, 26-24, 22-25, and 25-22.
The 6-4 Cookeville native smoked the competition on Friday night, tallying her fifth double-double of the season.
Through the opening two sets, Dodd remained errorless, putting away 11 kills with no errors. When the tides turned to EIU in the third set, Dodd's teammates rallied around her. Freshmen Kellie Williams and K'Vonna Johnson combined for nine of the teams 11 kills in the dropped set, aiding Dodd, who added the other two. To close out the match, Williams put awat five kills with no errors to help the Golden Eagles win.
Dodd racked up a .310 hitting percentage while toasting 19 kills. She added 22 kills and five blocks to finish with 23.5 points against the Panthers.
Sharon Anderson orchestrated a solid performance by the Tech attack, totaling 45 assists.
Williams notched an impressive night offensively, collecting 15 kills to help.
Jordan Wachowiak was a brick wall all night, tying her career-high mark of eight blocks during a dominating defensive effort by the Tech middles. Senior libero Courtney Smith aided the defense, tallying an impressive 32 digs on the night.
The Panthers were led by junior outside hitter Chelsea Lee who put down 14 kills and added three block. In the middle, Allie Hueston tallied 10 kills and three blocks as well. Marah Bradbury dished out 33 assists, adding eight kills and eight digs.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, SIUE 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team opened its home schedule and Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday night with a thrilling 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 15-13) victory over SIU Edwardsville.
After dropping the first set, the Gamecocks (7-8, 1-0 OVC) put it together and rallied to earn their first ever win over the Cougars (8-8, 0-1 OVC) in five tries.
Senior Nicole Merget led JSU offensively with a game high 20 kills on an impressive .318 attack percentage. Junior Brianne Glidewell was also impressive up front and on the back row, notching her second career double-double. The Peoria, Ariz., native put down 11 kills on a .417 attacl percentage, while picking up 17 digs on the other side of the net.
Freshman Allyson Zuhlke had 14 kills, while junior Emily Rutherford added 10 and also recorded a double-double with a team-high 18 digs. Freshman Jennifer Hart's double-double of a career-high 53 assists and 14 digs set the tone offensively, with the Gamecocks hitting over .200 as a team in each of the final four sets.
Defensively, Rutherford led a group of five Gamecocks with double-digit digs. Junior libero Samantha Bohne and freshman Hannah Kirk rounded out the quintet with 17 and 15, respectively.
The Cougars were led by Kristen Torre's 29 kills on a .407 attack percentage, while Chelsea Colclasure led all players with 26 digs. Setter Mallory Mangun had a big night with 46 assists and 20 digs.
SIUE took an early 9-3 lead the opening set and led from start to finish. The Gamecocks bounced back to tie the match 1-1 after holding off the Cougars for a 25-21 second-set win.
Out of the break, the match resumed to be a tight contest and was tied early at 5-5. From there, the Gamecocks went on a 6-1 run to jump out to a lead they wouldn't give up. JSU was able to maintain that lead margin to claim a 25-20 set win to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
The Gamecocks had a chance to close out the victory in the fourth set, leading 22-19, but a few mistakes allowed the Cougars to push the set to a fifth and deciding set.
In the fifth, the Gamecocks jumped out to a 7-4 lead, which was enough space to hold of SIUE and take the set 15-13.
SIUE's Kristen Torre tallied a career-high 29 kills which was the most for the Cougars in the Division I era and the most by a Cougar since SIUE Hall of Famer Lindsay Rust recorded 31 during the 1998 season.
MURRAY STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
MURRAY, Ky. -The Murray State Racers started the Ohio Valley Conference volleyball season with a resounding 3-0 victory over the Southeast Missouri State Redhawks at Racer Arena in Murray, Kentucky.
After starting the season 9-0 and then slowing last weekend with three losses, the Racers (10-3, 1-0 OVC) shook off any hangover from their recent trip to Valparaiso and took care of business in the conference and home opener of the 2014 season.
The Racers' win over SEMO was their second straight after they ended last season with a win over the Redhawks. MSU's 3-0 win was their seventh sweep of the season and their first over SEMO since 2010.
In set one, the Racers and SEMO played a tight game. The biggest lead for either team was only three points until MSU fell behind 23-19 and were in danger of dropping the opener. The Racers stunned SEMO with a 7-1 run taking the set 26-24.
MSU set up the possibility of a sweep when they took the second set 25-20 on the strength of a .480 attack percentage. The Racers put away 14-of-25 chances to get the upper hand.
The Racers completed the 3-0 win by a 25-21 score in the third set. Taylor Olden and Scottie Ingram combined for 10 of the team's 13 kills in the set.
Sam Bedard led MSU with 38 assists in the game which led to 15 kills from Ingram and 12 from Olden. MSU had 48 digs in the game with 12 coming from Olden.