FRIDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 3, @UT Martin 0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-17)
@Tennessee State 3, Jacksonville State 0 (23-13, 32-30, 25-19)
@Belmont 3, Tennessee Tech 1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-16, 28-26)
@Murray State 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-13)
@Southeast Missouri 3, Eastern Kentucky 1 (26-24, 25-20, 17-25, 25-20)
@Austin Peay 3, SIUE 2 (25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 11-25, 15-8)
MORHEAD STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Morehead State volleyball team followed their most impressive win of the season over Austin Peay with another impressive victory. This time a three-set sweep at UT Martin. The win marks their first true road win of the season and moves their OVC record to 3-2. They downed the Skyhawks 25-17, 25-15, 25-18.
In a match where the Eagles outscored the Skyhawks, 75-50, they were never really threatened. The only time momentum really shifted the other way was in the middle of the second after MSU built a 19-7 lead. UTM then rallied to score five straight before the Eagles called timeout. Following the timeout, MSU scored three straight and went on to win the set, 25-15.
Coming off of her fourth OVC Newcomer of the Week selection, freshman Merideth Jewell led the Eagles with 15 kills, while hitting .235. She also led the team with 10 digs.
Senior Hannah Sigala continued her strong play, as well, this time with eight kills on just 11 attempts, good for a .636 clip. She hit a career-high .682 in her last match against Austin Peay. Courtney Smith also had a solid match with six kills and eight digs.
The Eagles hit .260 with 33 kills, while limiting the Skyhawks to just 18 kills and a -.078 hitting percentage.
Ellie Cain registered a match-high 17 assists for UT Martin while Kiah Cheatham compiled three blocks to lead the Skyhawks defensively.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State volleyball (8-9, 3-2 OVC) defeated Jacksonville State in three sets to earn their second conference sweep and third OVC win of the season.
A .394 attacking percentage in the first set led the TSU to their first win of the match as the Tigers defeated the Gamecocks 25-13. The Tigers recorded a total of 15 kills and 22 digs during the set. Stellar defense by TSU kept Jacksonville State at a .000 hitting percentage. Junior Chloe Watson led the Tigers with 7 kills, six digs and two blocks in the first.
The Tigers took things to 32 in an exciting second set. Attack errors early in the set would put the Tigers behind 9-3, before a 5-1 run at the service of Zahria Graham allowed the Tigers to cut the deficit to two. The Tigers were one point away from victory multiple times, but were held off by the Gamecocks until freshman Ayanna Chase put down a kill and a block to give the Tigers a 32-30 second-set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Tigers stayed hot in the third set, posting a .379 hitting percentage and only committing two attacking errors. TSU and Jacksonville State tied things up a total of five times throughout the set before a 5-2 run, highlighted by kills from Chase, junior Taylor Patterson and senior Haley Hampton put the Tigers one point away from their third victory of the night. A service ace from sophomore Samantha Beltran would secure the win for the Tigers and give TSU its third conference victory of the season.
Junior Chloe Watson notched her ninth double-double of the season, collecting 19 kills and 14 digs through three sets. Watson hit .357 for the match and produced a total of 20.5 points. Freshmen Ayanna Chase had an impressive performance, as the middle blocker tallied eight kills on the night and a team-high of five blocks. Hampton and Graham finished the match with six kills apiece.
Defensively, Madison Halterman led the Tigers with 24 kills, followed by Watson with 14.
BELMONT 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont University volleyball team (7-9, 4-1 OVC) won its second-straight match as it took care of a pesky Tennessee Tech team, 3-1 (17-25, 25-19, 25-16, 28-26) Friday night at the Curb Event Center.
After dropping set one 17-25, Belmont took control and responded with three-straight victories in sets two, three and four.
Sophomore Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) paced Belmont with 18 kills while teammate Jocelyn Youngdahl (Stillwater, Minn.) 13 kills.
In set one, the teams battled back and forth for about half of the frame. Tech then utilized a 9-1 run, after the score had been knotted at 16 apiece, to claim victory in set one.
The Bruins responded with a sense of urgency in the second set, as they claimed set two 25-19. In a similar fashion to Tech's first set, the Bruins caught fire around their 16th point as the squads were tied at 16 all. Belmont won six of the final nine points in the frame. Person and Youngdahl each turned in a four-kill set and helped the Bruins even it up one game apiece.
The Bruins carried over their momentum gained in set two into set three as they knocked off Tech 25-16. Person and Youngdahl added four kills apiece again in match's third round.
Set four was highly contested as BU was finally able to pull away from the resilient Golden Eagles late in the match, 28-26.
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
MURRAY, Ky. - Kristen Besselsen recorded a season-high 16 kills and hit .433 while Scottie Ingram added 15 kills and a .419 attack percentage to help the Murray State volleyball team power past Eastern Illinois Friday night in a three-set sweep inside Racer Arena. The Racers (15-1, 5-0 OVC) took the sets 25-21, 25-18 and 25-13. MSU ended the second set on an 18-5 run to come-from-behind for the victory.
Ingram recorded her eighth double-double of the season as she added 12 digs in the match and also had a team-high three block assists. Sam Bedard got her second double-double of the week as she led the Racers with 44 assists and also added 12 digs of her own.
Ellie Lorenz led the MSU defense with 15 digs on the night. Lorenz entered the contest needing 11 digs to become the 16th member of the 1,000-dig club in program history. Lorenz now has 1,004 for her career.
As a team, the Racers hit .281 in the win and held the Panthers (8-11, 3-2 OVC) to a .115 clip. Both teams recorded four total blocks and MSU had a slight edge in service aces at 4-3. The Racers’ sideout percentage was at 66 percent on the night, while EIU’s was 46 percent.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (6-12, 2-3) knocked off Eastern Kentucky (3-17, 2-3) Friday night, 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 17-25, 25-20).
The Colonels took advantage of a slow Redhawks start, surging to an early 11-3 lead. Southeast rallied behind senior Taylor Masterson, as her three kills helped gain momentum and reduce the deficit to one (14-13). EKU responded by claiming another large lead, drawing set point 24-19. Southeast refused to fall, pressuring the Colonels' offense. Consecutive team blocks by Jessica McElderry and Madalyn Werths allowed the Redhawks to mount a seven-point rally, overtaking EKU and claiming the set, 26-24. Masterson finished the opening frame with six kills, sporting a .333 hitting clip. Southeast tallied five team blocks in the set.
Southeast continued their defensive stand, capturing the first five points of the second frame. The Redhawks remained in control throughout the set, never relinquishing their lead. EKU eventually was able to reduce the deficit to one (21-20), but the Redhawks regained command to finish the set 25-20 and take a two-set match lead. Southeast registered another six team blocks in the frame led by Nzingha Clarke's solo block and three block assists.
Werths registered five kills in the third frame, but the Colonels refused to be swept. Taking an early 10-7 lead, EKU's assault was too much for the Redhawks as they fell 25-17, forcing a fourth frame.
After the slight hiccup, Southeast rallied early to take an 8-3 advantage. The Colonels battled but were fended off by a quick five-point Redhawk rally sparked by Krissa Gearring's ninth kill of the match. A five-kill surge by Clarke allowed Southeast to cruise forward taking the set 25-20 and defeating EKU, 3-1. Clarke and Gearring finished the frame with six and five kills respectively.
Clarke led the Redhawks with 14 kills, generating a .423 hitting clip. Gearring finished with 11 kills and 24 digs, earning her seventh double-double of the season. Katarina Rotta also registered her seventh double-double of the season, tallying 42 assists and 15 digs. The Redhawks finished with 13 team blocks
AUSTIN PEAY 3, SIUE 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Four players finished with more than 10 points to help Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team secure a five-set (25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 11-25, 15-8) Ohio Valley Conference victory against SIUE, Friday night at the Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (6-14, 1-4 OVC) saw a 2-0 set lead evaporate as SIUE charged back to level the match, 2-2. But after losing the fourth set 25-11, the Lady Govs dominated the final set. A 4-1 Austin Peay burst, with a kill from senior Aubrey Marsellis and a service ace by Samantha Strother, turned the tide. Austin Peay secured the match with sophomore Ashley Slay’s kill and freshman Kaylee Taff’s block.
The Lady Govs were five points away from wrapping up the match in three sets. APSU won the first two sets in runaway fashion, posting an impressive 16 kills in the opening set, to gain a 2-0 lead. Austin Peay could glimpse the sweep as it led 20-19 in the third set, but could not close the door.
SIUE (3-12, 1-4 OVC) battled back with three straight kills to take a 22-20 lead and wrapped up the set with a service ace and a kill as part of a 3-1 run. The Cougars carried that momentum into the fourth set, swamping the Lady Govs in a 25-11 victory to tie the match and set up the fifth set.
Taff led Austin Peay with seven blocks, including the match-winner, while posting 10 kills at a team-best .474 attack percentage. Slay added 15 kills at a .375 attack percentage while Marsellis and Strother added nine kills each.
Kristen Torre led SIUE with a 15-kill, 10-block double-double performance. Ashley Witt added an 18-kill, 10-dig double-double while Katie Shashack chipped in a 10-assist, 13-dig double-double effort.