FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 3, Morehead State 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-20)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Austin Peay 0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-21)
Eastern Kentucky 3, @Tennessee State 1 (25-20, 13-25, 25-23, 27-25)
@Southeast Missouri 3, Eastern Illinois 2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-17, 26-28, 14-15)
Murray State 3, @Jacksonville State 1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-20)
@UT Martin 3, SIUE 1 (25-20, 21-25, 30-28, 25-18)
BELMONT 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont volleyball (12-11, 9-2 OVC) defeated Morehead State (9-16, 6-5 OVC) in three straight sets on Friday evening 25-20, 25-16, and 25-20.
Senior Jocelyn Youngdahl led the attack with 11 kills and no errors for a fiery average of .688. Sophomores Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) and Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) both followed closely behind with 10 kills hitting respectively .450 and .500. Redshirt sophomore Emma Price (Fort Mill, SC) dished out 36 assists and led the team to an average of .303. Sophomore Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) led the defensive effort with nine digs.
Set one was a point-for-point battle until Belmont broke away with a five-point run and took a 22-17 lead. The Bruins would maintain control taking set one 25-20. Youngdahl went 3-4 with no errors hitting for an average of .750.
Set two was a tight race until a 5-0 run from Belmont with sophomore Emily Richards (Penfield, N.Y.) at the service line gave the Bruins the 22-14 advantage. Morehead was unable to retaliate and with kills from Youngdahl and Person Belmont took set two 25-16. Youngdahl recorded another five kills with no errors and continues to hit for a stifling average of .727.
Morehead strung together four straight early on in set three to take a 4-2 advantage. Belmont would retaliate with a 7-1 run highlighted by two kills from Lewis to diminish that four-point run and take a 9-5 lead. The Eagles in turn took five of the next six points to tie the match at 10. The two squads traded points, and the lead until Belmont went on a five-point run with Lewis at the service line to take a 22-18 advantage. A kill from Youngdahl, a block from Youngdahl and Person, and an ace from Ivancich closed out set three and the match 25-20.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team (6-18, 4-7) opened Halloween weekend play with a strong victory over Austin Peay (6-20, 1-10 OVC) in a three-set shut down. The Golden Eagles took winning set scores of 25-20, 25-17, and 25-21 over the Governors.
A kill by Shaneice James opened up match play between Tech and Austin Peay (1-0). The Golden Eagles then took the go-ahead 6-5 lead with a kill by senior, Cody Dodd. Tech got down a bit after that as Austin Peay took a three-point lead at 13-10, however, the Golden Eagles sprang right back into action and went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 16-13. The Governors fought hard to recover their deficit and pulled within two points with a kill from Austin Peay's Kelly Ferguson at 18-16, and then cut the lead to one at 21-20 with a Tech attack error. The Golden Eagles remained strong, going on a four-point run to close out the first set 25-20.
Into the second, the Tech team continued to prosper opening with an 8-3 lead to start. A kill from Dodd expanded the Golden Eagle lead to 12-7. Tech then took advantage of an Austin Peay lull and extended their lead to eight-points (17-9) with a kill from Shealene Little. After that, the Golden Eagles continued to capitalize and took a 20-12 lead before cruising to a second set victory 25-17 over the Governors.
Tech continued to come out fighting into the third taking a commanding 11-4 lead to open the set. The Golden Eagles then extended their lead to 18-12 with a kill from Dodd. The Governors would not give up easily and went on a four-point run to then pull within two of Tech at 18-16, causing the Golden Eagles to take a timeout. After the break, Tech came out and went on a 3-1 run to pull ahead 21-17, forcing Austin Peay to call for a timeout as well. The Governors then continued to put up a battle, however, the Golden Eagles pushed on and took the third set and the match 25-21 out hitting Austin Peay in the set .268 to .086.
Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 14 kills and 10 digs for her 12th double-double on the season. James contributed to a Tech victory with seven kills and four digs, while teammate Sharon Anderson had 35 assists and nine digs in the match leading the team to an overall .225 hitting percentage. Ferguson led Austin Peay with nine kills and two digs.
MURRAY STATE 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Scottie Ingram tied a season-high with 21 kills and Olivia Chatman recorded a career-best 11 as the Murray State volleyball team rallied for a four-set victory over Jacksonville State Friday evening in Jacksonville, Ala. Chatman led the Racers with a .556 hitting percentage while Ingram hit .455.
The Racers (20-2, 10-1 OVC) hit .298 overall as a team while JSU (12-18, 2-9 OVC) hit .141 as a squad. MSU also held a 6-1 advantage on service aces in the victory. The Gamecocks had a 9-7 edge on total blocks.
Taylor Olden added 15 kills for MSU, while Audrey Lewis had a solid all-around game, recording six kills, 10 assists, nine digs and led the team with a pair of service aces in the win. Sam Bedard had a monster match, recording 46 assists and a team-best 20 digs. Bedard moved past Mica Wojinski for fourth-place on the all-time career assists list in Racer history in the match. Bedard now sits at 3,292 assists for her career.
Ellie Lorenz added 18 digs from her libero spot in the victory. Ingram and Olden also were in double-digit digs with 13 and 11, respectively. It is Ingram’s ninth double-double of the season and the seventh for Olden.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (9-15, 5-6 OVC) defeat Eastern Illinois (13-12, 8-3 OVC) in five sets Friday evening at Houck Field House (22-25, 25-19, 25-17, 26-28, 15-13).
Both teams battled back and forth early until a 10-10 tie was reached. The Redhawks began to gather momentum with kills by Madalyn Werths and Nzingha Clarke to take a 15-11 advantage. With Southeast ahead 19-16, EIU rallied back to surpass the Redhawks and steal the first set, 25-22. Marie Less and Werths each tallied four kills in the frame, with Less sporting a .571 hitting clip.
The Panthers' momentum continued in the second frame until the Redhawks strung together a seven-point run to take a 9-6 lead. EIU crept back to tie the match at 15 until a kill by Clarke sparked a four-point Southeast rally. Strong defense and consistent hitting allowed the Redhawks to take the set 25-19 and tie the match at a set apiece. Southeast finished the set with four team blocks while Clarke earned another four kills.
Less repeated her first set performance to help the Redhawks take advantage in the match. After battling point-for-point, Southeast charged ahead with a six-point run, eventually cruising to a 25-17 set victory. As a team, the Redhawks generated 15 kills with a .483 hitting clip during the frame.
EIU fought early, eventually edging a slight lead over Southeast, 18-15. The Redhawks fought back, catching the Panthers and forcing a tie at 24 on an ace by Katarina Rotta. Consecutive kills by Clarke gave Southeast an advantage, but EIU fought back to claim the fourth set 28-26 and forcing a decisive fifth frame. While unable to finish the match for the Redhawks, Werths had an impressive seven-kill frame with a perfect attack percentage. Clarke was also able to taylly another four kills during the set.
The Redhawks took command of the fifth set early in the frame, 10-4, after Taylor Masterson laid down a kill. Refusing to fall quietly, EIU surged back, catching Southeast to tie the set at 13. After another kill by Werths and a Panther attack error, the Redhawks took the set 15-13 and earned a 3-2 match victory.
Werths led the Redhawks with 16 kills, finishing the night with a .433 hitting clip. Clarke and Less followed with 14 and 13 kills, respectively as the Southeast generated a .309 team attack percentage. Clarke led defensively tallying five blocks, helping the Redhawks earn 10 team blocks throughout the match. Southeast finished the night with 63 assists led by Keegan Fornoff (31) and Rotta (26).
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - With a 3-1 over Tennessee State University Friday at Kean Hall, the Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team extended its Ohio Valley Conference winning streak to five.
Eastern won by scores of 25-20, 13-25, 25-23 and 27-25.
Tied at 15 in the first set, the Colonels began to pull away. Celina Sanks dropped two of her game-high 15 kills to help put the Colonels up 18-15. From there, the Colonels outscored Tennessee State 7-5 to claim the first set.
Tennessee State controlled the second set, however. The Tigers led throughout, hitting .324 to even the match at one apiece.
In the final two sets, Eastern had to overcome late leads from the Tigers. As the Colonels trailed 22-21, Eastern used a 4-0 run to close the set heading into the potential deciding set.
The Colonels jumped out to an 11-5 lead and maintained the lead throughout the set until Tennessee State took an 18-17 lead. The teams traded leads as the Tigers held the serve at match-point. With an opportune use of a timeout, the Colonels closed the set with three straight points to take the match.
Sanks hit .196 on the night finishing with 15 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Ally Peters logged 11 kills, along with four service aces and seven digs for the Colonels. Johanna Boyer and Rachel Vick added eight kills apiece in the win.
UT MARTIN 3, SIUE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team turned away Ohio Valley Conference rival SIU Edwardsville in four sets (25-20, 21-25, 30-28, 25-18) this evening at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
Lael Ceriani led UT Martin with 17 kills while Madison Wessling (16 kills, 14 digs) continued her hot stretch of play, tallying her fourth double-double in the last six matches. Ellie Cain compiled her ninth double-double of the season with 44 assists and a career-best 16 digs while Kiah Cheatham added 11 kills and a team-best five blocks. Jamie Scherb (career-high 13 digs) and Chelsea Bowles (10 digs) also stood out defensively for the Skyhawks, who improved to 8-20 overall with a 4-7 OVC mark.
The Skyhawks wasted little time establishing momentum, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first set. Back-to-back kills by Amanda Crask and Wessling helped stretch UT Martin’s advantage out to five points (8-3). SIU Edwardsville got within a single point at 12-11 but moments later, Wessling came away with kills for two straight points to expand the Skyhawk lead back out to four points at 17-13. Another Wessling kill helped UT Martin expand its lead to as many as six points (20-14) before a Cheatham service ace provided the Skyhawks with the first set victory.
Wessling was UT Martin’s star in the first set, as she piled up six kills with no miscues on just nine swings. Cain distributed 12 assists while directing a Skyhawk offense that hit .387 (15 kills, three errors) in 31 attempts in the opening set.
UT Martin led for a majority of the second set before the Cougars surged ahead midway through the set. A Ceriani kill and Cain service ace were included during the Skyhawks’ early 3-1 lead while two straight kills by Alisha Erves allowed UT Martin to open up an 8-5 advantage. The Skyhawks led 10-6 before SIU Edwardsville reeled off an 11-3 run to go on top by four points. The Cougars led 20-14 before kills by four different Skyhawks helped UT Martin push back with a 6-2 run to close within two points. However, SIU Edwardsville was able to manage four of the final five points to even the match at one set apiece.
Ceriani and Erves each had four kills while Cain was responsible for 11 assists in the second set.
In the crucial third set, the Skyhawks whittled away an early six-point deficit to outlast SIU Edwardsville. The Cougars took a 5-2 lead right out of the gate and tacked on to its lead with four unanswered points to make the score 10-4. UT Martin trailed by a 16-12 margin before hatching its comeback attempt. The Skyhawks would slice SIU Edwardsville’s lead to a single point on four different occasions but the Cougars would not relinquish the lead until an attack error tied the score at 24-all. UT Martin faced set point on five different occasions but seemingly always had an answer – eventually capping off the set with three unanswered points (Ceriani kill, Cain service ace, assisted block by Cheatham and Ceriani).
Offensively, Ceriani and Wessling each had six kills while Cain had 12 assists in the third set. Four different Skyhawks had at least five digs in the set, led by Scherb’s seven scoops.
A pair of Ceriani kills allowed UT Martin to grab a 3-0 lead in the fourth set but SIU Edwardsville eventually clawed back to even the score at 9-all. Three more ties ensued before back-to-back blocks swung the momentum back in favor of the Skyhawks and gave UT Martin a lead it would not concede the rest of the way. Another block – this time by Cain and Erves – pushed the Skyhawk lead out to 19-15 before UT Martin ended the set on a 4-0 run, fittingly clinching the win with a solo block by Cheatham.
Ceriani had five of the Skyhawks’ 12 kills as UT Martin sided out at 73 percent (14-of-19) in the final set.