SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 3, SIUE 0 (30-28, 25-14, 25-12)
Murray State 3, @Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-15)
@Morehead State 3, Austin Peay 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-22)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Southeast Missouri 0 (25-23, 26-24, 27-25)
@Belmont 3, Eastern Illinos 1 (25-13, 19-25, 25-17, 25-19)
TENNESSEE STATE 3, SIUE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State volleyball team (7-9, 2-2 OVC) earned its second conference win on Saturday, sweeping SIU-Edwardsville (3-11, 1-3 OVC) in three sets.
The Tigers fell behind 7-3 early in the first set but kills by senior Haley Hampton, junior Chloe Watson and freshman Ayanna Chase would allow TSU to tie things up at 11. TSU would go back and fourth with SIUE, tying things up a total of nine times throughout the set. The Tigers were able to take a late 22-16 lead , but a four-point run on the service of SIUE’s Katie Shashack followed by two Cougar kills would once again tie the score at 24. Two kills and a service ace from Hampton put the Tigers back in the lead before a service ace from sophomore Samantha Beltran would give the TSU its first win of the match. The Tigers hit .333 as a team for the first set, while keeping the Cougars to a .133 hitting percentage.
Tennessee State stayed hot in the second, hitting .226 for the set while keeping SIUE to a match low of .034. Once the Tigers took a 6-5 lead after a kill from Watson, TSU would remain in the lead for the remainder of the set. A late six-point run highlighted by a service ace from Senior Madison Halterman and kills from Watson and Hampton would give allow the Tigers to take a 25-14 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Tigers came out in the third, looking for their first sweep of the season.
Take care of business is just what the Tigers did. TSU dominated at the net during the third set with a season-high.485 attacking percentage and total of 19 kills while the Cougars only .147 hitting percentage with seven kills. The Tigers would only allow SIUE to reach 12 before taking the set 25-12 and the match 3-0.
This was the first three-set win for the Tigers since Sept. 18 and the first conference sweep of the season.
The Tigers were led by junior Chloe Watson, who recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 18 kills and 14 digs. The outside hitter posted a .417 attacking percentage and had one service ace. Senior Haley Hampton followed Watson with 10 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. Freshmen Ayanna Chase and Zahria Graham both hit over .300 for the day. Chase hit .357 and collected eight kills on 14 attempts while Graham hit .333 with six kills on 15 attempts.
Sophomore Samantha Beltran led with 41 assists and three services aces. The setter also collected eight digs.
Defensively, Halterman led the Tigers with 15 digs followed by Watson with 14 and Graham with 11.
The Tigers hit .350 through the three sets, their highest attacking percentage so far this season.
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball team hit a season-best .393 overall as a team Saturday as it improved to 3-0 in OVC play and 13-1 overall, as the Racers recorded their third consecutive sweep in their victory over Eastern Kentucky. Set scores went 25-14, 25-16 and 25-16.
Scottie Ingram led the Racers with 11 kills in the win and, along with Alyssa Lelm, had two service aces to lead the squad. Taylor Olden added nine kills and hit .500 while Lelm chipped in with six. Overall it was a balanced attack for MSU as Kristen Besselsen added five kills of her own, Olivia Chatman had four and Sam Bedard and Audrey Lewis each had three.
Bedard led the team with 28 assists in the win, while Ellie Lorenz racked up a team-best 15 digs from her libero position and is now just 25 away from joining the 1,000-dig club at MSU. Olden added nine digs and Ingram had eight in the match.
MSU held the Colonels to just a .047 attack percentage on the afternoon and also had nine service aces to EKU’s four. EKU did have five total blocks to the Racers’ two.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - On a special day at Wetherby Gym, the Morehead State volleyball team put together a special performance as they swept Austin Peay on Senior Day, 3-0. They downed the Governors 25-23, 25-20, 25-22.
Despite their success on the court, the real story of this game was their lone senior Hannah Sigala, who lost her mother early in the morning after a courageous battle with cancer.
Knowing everything that was going on behind the scenes makes the Eagles' performance on the court that much more impressive.
The Eagles controlled the match throughout, only trailing twice in the first two sets. They erased that deficit with a five-point run in the first and then never trailed in the second. In the third, they fell behind 10-5 and then picked at the AP lead the rest of the way, eventually taking the lead for good at 22-21.
They had 52 kills in three sets, while putting together a .408 hitting percentage.
Freshman Meredith Jewell, who had 10 kills in the first set, finished with a team-high 18, but once again the story was Sigala. She recorded a season-high 16 kills in just 22 attempts, good for a career-best .682 hitting percentage. She also recorded two block solos, coming on back-to-back plays as the Eagles extended their lead late in the second set.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Exciting is an understatement for the Tennessee Tech volleyball (4-13, 2-2 OVC) match against Southeast Missouri (SEMO, 5-12, 1-3 OVC). The Golden Eagles took down the Redhawks in a three set thriller taking winning set scores of 25-23, 26-24, and 25-27.
A service ace from Shealene Little gave Tech the go-ahead 7-5 lead in the first set. SEMO got on a 5-2 run to pull ahead at 10-7. The Golden Eagles battled and tied the set at 11-11 off of a kill by Kellie Williams followed by a Redhawk attack error. From there, SEMO kept a slight edge over Tech, leading 19-16. The Golden Eagles were determined and pulled within one at 21-20 off of a kill by Williams, and then continued on a 5-2 run to close out the first set 25-23.
It was a tight second set. Tech and SEMO opened with a tie of 6-6, before Tech was able to create a six-point lead, 14-8. A kill by Cody Dodd extended the Golden Eagle lead to 18-14, however, the Redhawks got on the attack and battled to tie the match at 21-21. The two teams remained neck-and-neck, holding at 22-22, 23-23, and 24-24. Finally, Tech was able to take the second set 26-24, off of a kill by Shealene Little followed by a block from Dodd and Alyssa Povey.
The Redhawks came out on top at the start of the third set, opening with a 9-6 lead over the Golden Eagles. However, three kills in a row by Dodd tied the set at 9-9. SEMO responded to the Tech gain, and created a five-point lead at 16-11. The Golden Eagles would not give up easily though, and Tech tied the match at 18-18 with a service ace by Jessica Oliver. The two teams fought hard against each other with no team leading the other for the remainder of the match until a Williams kill and Povey-Williams block sealed a third set and match victory 27-25.
Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 18 kills and 19 digs, her eighth double-double of the season. Sharon Anderson contributed to a Tech victory with 41 assists and 14 digs, her ninth double-double of the season, while teammate Alyssa Povey collected 10 kills and five blocks in the match. Madalyn Werths led Southeast Missouri with 13 kills.
BELMONT 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball (6-9, 3-1 OVC) took home another victory in four sets against Eastern Illinois (8-10, 3-1 OVC) 25-13, 19-25, 25-17 and 25-19 Saturday afternoon from the Curb Event Center.
Sophomore Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) led the offensive effort recording a double double with 17 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) and redshirt sophomore Emma Price (Fort Mill, SC) also recorded a double double in the match.
An ace from Price and Person gave Belmont an early 8-4 lead in set one. Belmont continued its aggressive offense with kills from Lewis and senior Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) and took a 10-5 lead. Bruins went on a 6-2 run taking a 16-7 lead highlighted by kills from Youngdahl, Person and Price as well as an ace from sophomore Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.). Kills from Person and redshirt freshman Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.) and two aces from Price gave Belmont a 23-11 advantage. A service error by Eastern Illinois gave Belmont set one 25-13.
The Bruins and Panthers went point-for-point to start set two until a kill and an ace from the Panthers gave them a 9-6 point lead in set two. After trailing 13-9 the Bruins roped together a strand of points to come within one 12-13. The two squads continued to exchange points but EIU managed to hold the lead. EIU turned on the offense and took a 22-16 lead. Panthers held their lead taking set two 25-19 which locked the teams in a set apiece.
An early 5-1 run highlighted by kills from Lewis, freshman Tori Simmons (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) and Price gave Belmont a 9-5 lead in set three. Belmont and EIU played tug-of-war for points in the middle of set three but Belmont held at least a four-point lead for most of the battle. Belmont went on a 6-1 run and took a 19-11 lead aided by a few errors from EIU. Belmont and EIU traded points until the Bruins took home set three 25-17 with a kill from Nichols.
Belmont jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead in set four highlighted by aces from Ivancich, Youngdahl and Price. A kill from Nichols and Belmont's 14th ace of the match gave the Bruins a five-point lead 11-6. Belmont and EIU went back and forth for points for the remainder of set four. Kills from Nichols and Person end the set 25-19.
The Bruins ended the afternoon with 14 aces and 54 total kills. Price led from the service line with five aces while sophomore Emily Richards (Penfield, N.Y.) led the defensive effort with 19 kills. Five players from Belmont finished the night with at least one block as well as five players recorded at least one ace. The Bruins closed out the match with a .255 team hitting percentage.