SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 3, Morehead State 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-13)
@Austin Peay 3, Southeast Missouri 1 (25-20, 15-25, 25-18, 26-24)
@Murray State 3, UT Martin 1 (25-21, 26-24, 23-25, 25-15)
Eastern Kentucky 3, @Tennessee State 1 (24-26, 25-17, 28-26, 25-22)
@Jacksonville State 3, Eastern Illinois 2 (25-27, 25-22, 30-28, 23-25, 15-13)
@Tennessee Tech 3, SIUE 2 (25-27, 25-14, 25-18, 23-25, 15-12)
BELMONT 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball earned its second sweep on the year as the Bruins defeated Morehead State in three sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-13) Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
Trailing 19-18 in the opening stanza, Belmont used the momentum of a service ace from setter Emma Price (Fort. Mill, S.C.) to shoot past the visiting Eagles as the Bruins tallied the final six points, highlighted by kills from both Alex Martin (Ooltewah, Tenn.) and Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.), in order to take the set, 25-19.
The duo of Martin and outside hitter Scarlet Gable (Munford, Tenn.) powered the Bruins in the second set as the seniors recorded four kills apiece as BU earned a 25-22 victory. Belmont's defense held MSU to a .100 team hitting percentage.
After intermission, the Bruins jumped out to a 9-2 advantage and never looked back as Belmont easily captured the set, 25-13, in order to complete the sweep on the afternoon.
BU outhit MSU on the match as the Bruins recorded a .243 hitting percentage compared to Morehead State's .109.
Junior Maddison Croft (Edwardsville, Ill.) recorded a great hitting effort as the middle blocker finished with a .667 hitting percentage off eight kills in 12 attempts.
Martin led the Bruins with 9 kills while Price finished with a match-best 33 assists.
Sophomore libero Hope Rillema paced the Eagles with 14 digs, to give her 45 total and 5.62 per set for the weekend.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior outside hitter Jada Stotts recorded her second consecutive 20-kill performance and Austin Peay State University downed Southeast Missouri in four sets (25-20, 15-25, 25-18, 26-24) to start Ohio Valley Conference play with a 2-0 mark, Saturday afternoon at the Dunn Center.
Once again Stotts had a flair for the dramatic, recording nine of Austin Peay’s 17 kills in the decisive fourth set. She was responsible for five of Austin Peay’s final six points in the match. With APSU trailing 23-20 in the fourth set, Stotts recorded back-to-back kills, had a block to put APSU ahead 24-23, then put down back-to-back kills to win the set 26-24.
Austin Peay (8-10, 2-0 OVC) won for the fifth time in its last six matches despite a second-set lull. Austin Peay opened the match with a workman-like 17 kill outing to win the first set 25-20. However, the Lady Govs old habit of inconsistency reared its head in an ugly second set.
Southeast Missouri (4-11, 0-2 OVC) jumped on a laggard APSU defense to the tune of 18 kills and a .429 attack percentage. The Redhawks defense also feasted on an uneven Lady Govs offensive effort, notching five blocks in the set to tie the match with a 25-15 victory.
The Lady Govs bounced back with a statement third set in which they recorded 18 kills at a .326 attack percentage. Six Lady Govs recorded a kill in the set with Stotts recording five and sophomore outside hitter Sammie Ebright and middle blocker senior Liz Landon each adding four kills in the 25-18 win to take a 2-1 lead and set up the fourth set.
Southeast Missouri’s offense vanished in that third set, recording 10 kills but only a .190 attack percentage. The Redhawks did not recover in the fourth set, recording 15 kills and a .188 attack mark. Austin Peay’s defense stiffened in those two frames, recording 27 and 26 digs respectively to deny the SEMO attack.
Stotts’ 24 kills led Austin Peay and she added 21 kills, two service aces and four blocks to her tally. Ebright added 10 kills at a .333 attack rate. Seven Lady Govs hitters recorded a kill and they finished with 62 team kills at a .229 pace.
Andrea Baylin led Southeast Missouri with 12 kills and was one of four hitters to find double-digit kill territory. The Redhawks were held to 57 kills but posted a better .256 attack percentage.
MURRAY STATE 3, UT MARTIN 1
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State Racers won for the second straight time to start the Ohio Valley Conference volleyball season Saturday in a 3-1 win over the UT Martin Skyhawks at Racer Arena in Murray, Kentucky.
The Racers (11-3, 2-0 OVC) won a set in extra points for the second night in a row as they won for the fourth straight time against UTM.
MSU got off to a blazing start in the first set and led the Skyhawks 24-16 on the strength of 10 straight point wins and eventually won the set 25-21.
MSU won set two in extra points 26-24. MSU was down 23-22 and won four of the next five points to take the set.
Going for the sweep, the Racers were locked into a big third set struggle that was taken by UTM 25-23. MSU trailed 23-15, but ran out of points even though they made a run late.
That forced a fourth set that the Racers took control of early with a 17-13 lead. MSU finished the match off by winning nine of the last 10 points.
The Racers were led by setter Sam Bedard with a season-high 47 assists.
MSU got a triple-threat day from Scottie Ingram (21 kills), Taylor Olden (13 kills) and Kristen Besselsen (13 kills). The Racer trio combined for 47 kills. Alyssa Lelm tossed in seven kills. Ingram led the team with 19 digs, while Besselsen had 12 digs.
For the day, The Racers had an attack percentage of .242, while UTM was .128.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Kentucky University’s volleyball team completed a two-match Ohio Valley Conference road trip with a 3-1 victory at Tennessee State University. The Colonels began the trip with a win at Belmont on Friday.
EKU is now 12-6 overall and 2-0 in OVC play after winning by scores of 24-26, 25-17, 28-26 and 25-22.
Freshman Celina Sanks led Eastern with 13 kills. Rachel Vick and Alexis Plagens had 11 kills each. Vick also had four blocks and three aces. Dena Ott had a match-best 18 digs while Abbey Cvelbar posted a second straight double-double, finishing with 41 assists and 12 digs.
After taking a 1-0 lead in the match, the Tigers jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set before the Colonels got going. A 12-4 run turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead, 15-11. Vick had a pair of kills during the run, but six points were scored off TSU attack errors. Eastern Kentucky cruised on to a 25-17 win to tie the match.
The score in the key third set was tied 14 times and the lead changed hands seven times. Tennessee State took set-point, 24-23, on a kill by Taylor Swayzer. However, a kill by Sanks tied the score and a TSU error gave the visitors set-point. Swayzer tied it 25-25 with a kill and gave the Tigers set-point again with an ace. EKU rolled off three straight, including back-to-back kills by Sanks, to take the set 28-26 and grab a 2-1 lead in the match.
Three unanswered points early in the fourth set put Eastern on top 9-6 and gave the Colonels a lead they would never relinquish. An 8-0 EKU run turned a one-point lead into a 20-12 advantage. After a kill by Vick gave her team match-point, 24-18, Tennessee State scored four straight on four consecutive attack errors to close the gap to two points. A Tiger error after a timeout ended the set and the match.
Swayzer led all players with 20 kills for Tennessee State (6-10, 1-1 OVC). Naomi Wells had 16 kills. Swayzer and Wells combined for 23 attack errors.
The Tigers had three more kills (54-51) and two more blocks than EKU, but the Colonels had seven fewer errors, four more aces (7-3) and three fewer service errors.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team notched its second-straight Ohio Valley Conference win in thrilling fashion on Saturday afternoon by topping Eastern Illinois in five sets.
Trailing 8-2 in the fifth set, the Gamecocks (8-8, 2-0 OVC) went on a 9-1 surge that powered them into the lead. The Panthers (7-9, 0-2 OVC) reclaimed a 13-12 lead, only to watch JSU score the final three points to secure the 3-2 (25-27, 25-22, 30-28, 23-25, 15-13) win just hours after opening conference play with a five-set thriller over SIUE on Friday.
The Gamecocks spread the wealth on both sides of the net, with five players in double digits in digs and three in kills. Senior Nicole Merget was dominant once again up front, using a .415 attack percentage on 41 attacks to lead all players with 21 kills. The Canton, Mich., native also had five blocks in the match.
Freshman Allyson Zuhlke hit .333 en route to 17 kills, while fellow freshman Charis Ludtke's 18 kills came on a .289 attack percentage. Junior Brianne Glidewell hit .316 and put down nine kills. Freshman setter Jennifer Hart dished a career-high 59 assists and picked up 16 digs for her second double-double in 24 hours. The Davidson, N.C., native set up the JSU offense on an afternoon where it hit .282 as a team.
Junior libero Samantha Bohne led the five Gamecocks with double-digit kills with 17. Junior Emily Rutherford picked up 16, while Glidewell and freshman Hannah Kirk each had 14.
EIU got 20 kills from Chelsea Lee and 19 digs from Stephanie Wallace.
The opening set went the Panthers way, as they used a .515 attack percentage to overpower the Gamecocks by just enough to win the set 27-25.
In the same fashion as Friday's OVC opener vs. SIUE, the Gamecocks rallied back to win the second set and tie the match at 1-1. Glidewell, Zuhlke and Merget each had four kills in the second set pacing JSU to a 25-22 win.
In the third, EIU led 23-20 and was poised to take the set and control of the match until a kill by Zuhlke began a JSU comeback that tied the set 24-24. The set went back and forth until a service ace by Ludtke sealed the 30-28 win for the Gamecocks.
EIU wouldn't go away, winning a fourth set which included 15 ties.The Gamecocks hit just .163 in the set to EIU's .211.
For the second time in as many days it took a fifth set to decide the Gamecocks' match and for the second time Jax State was able to win in thrilling style ending the set on a 13-5 run to win 15-13.
JSU moves past the opening weekend of conference action undefeated under first-year head coach Terry Gamble.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - In 1999, Tennessee Tech head volleyball coach Dave Zelenock was 17 years old, junior right side Cody Dodd was just five years old, and freshman outside Kellie Williams was three.
What's the point? The 1999 season marked the last time the Golden Eagles opened Ohio Valley Conference play 2-0 before rallying for an impressive five-set victory over SIU Edwardsville.
For the second straight day, Dodd was demonstratively dominant as she helped the Golden Eagles top the Cougars in an exciting five-set match, 3-2; 25-27, 25-14, 25-18, 23-25, and 15-12. Tech bumped its overall record to 7-11 on the year with the victory.
In the fifth and deciding set, the Golden Eagles relied on Dodd. And she could have easily taken a job with FedEx for her delivery skills. The Cookeville native was error-free, putting away seven kills on 15 attempts.
A 3-0 start to the fifth proved to be the deciding factor, as an SIUE error and back-to-back kills from freshman K'Vonna Johnson and Dodd gave Tech a lead that was never relinquished. From there on, whenever the Golden Eagles needed a side out, Dodd delivered with a kill.
The Golden Eagles put out their best offensive performance of the season as the team accumulated a team hitting percentage of .271, putting away 69 kills split between six different hitters.
Dodd, a six-foot-four Cookeville native, put away a career-high 30 kills on a .338 hitting percentage in the win, moving her into second in Tech history for kills scored in a single match. Dodd added 15 digs for her second-straight double-double, and her sixth of the season.
Williams was a perfect pairing to Dodd, putting away 14 kills and committing just three errors.
Sophomore Sharon Anderson dished out a career-high 55 assists while tallying a double-double with 16 digs. Senior libero Courtney Smith continued her strong defensive play as she scooped up a game-high 29 digs.
Kristen Torre and Ashley Witt led SIUE with 19 kills apiece. Mallory Mangun compiled 45 assists, while Chelsea Colclasure corralled 22 digs.