SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 3, Morehead State 0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-12)
@SIUE 3, Belmont 1 (25-17, 25-16, 25-27, 25-20)
@Austin Peay 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-15)
Tennessee State 3, @Eastern Illinois 1 (25-22, 18-25, 25-23, 25-19)
Jacksonville State 2, @Southeast Missouri 2 (25-22, 18-25, 18-25, 25-23, 17-15)
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Junior Sammie Ebright posted a double-double as Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team gave its three seniors a win in their final match, downing Eastern Kentucky in three sets (26-24, 25-17, 25-15) in a Saturday Ohio Valley Conference match.
In its final match of 2015, Austin Peay (10-22, 4-12 OVC) got out to a quick start offensively. The Lady Govs recorded an impressive 22 kills in the 26-24 victory, finishing with a .346 attack percentage for the set. APSU rallied from an 18-15 deficit thanks to four straight kills, three by senior Samantha Strother. The Lady Govs got to set point first, but needed an Ebright kill to end the set on their second opportunity.
The Lady Govs and Eastern Kentucky battled through seven lead changes and two ties in the second set’s opening 18 points, leading to a 9-9 tie. Austin Peay broke the tie with nine-straight points, which included two kills and a block by freshman Kaylee Taff. With the 18-9 lead, Austin Peay did not look back and won the set 25-17.
A 6-1 start to the third set put Austin Peay in a good position for the sweep. The Lady Govs pushed the lead to 10 points, 15-5, and fended off a small Eastern Kentucky charge. Three straight APSU points ended the match with APSU winning the set 25-15.
Ebright led Austin Peay with a 15-kill, 17-dig double-double performance, posting a .424 attack percentage. Taff added 11 kills and a .450 attack percentage.
Seniors Aubrey Marsellis, Samantha Strother and April Adams each made significant contributions in their final Austin Peay match. Marsellis had a 40-assist, 12-dig double-double. Strother had nine kills, nine digs and two service aces. Adams led the Lady Govs with 18 digs.
Eastern Kentucky was held to 37 kills and a .121 attack percentage with no player reaching double-digit kill territory, three players recording eight kills to lead the EKU effort.
SIUE 3, BELMONT 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Seniors Kristen Torre and Kaitlyn O'Reilly were victorious in their final home match as SIUE volleyball players.
The Cougars defeated Belmont on Senior Day at the Vadalabene Center 25-17, 25-16, 25-27, 25-20.
Torre led the Cougars Saturday with 16 kills and a .464 hitting percentage.
She completed her collegiate career with 1,256 kills, which is the most by a Cougar during the Division I era. Her career .315 hitting percentage is second all-time and the best of the Division I era.
Torre, of Highland, Illinois, said she hasn't been thinking much about her legacy as an SIUE volleyball player.
O'Reilly, who recorded a service ace in the victory, said a win on Senior Day was special.
SIUE turned in one of its top offensive performances of the season with 54 kills and a .278 hitting percentage against the Bruins, which fell to 14-14 overall and 11-5 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Ashley Witt joined Torre in double-digit kills with 11. Katie Shashack paced the defense with 14 digs and a career-best four service aces.
SIUE volleyball also honored senior Leslie Lindsey, who was unable to play this season due to injury.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - As EIU was playing in their final regular-season contest and honoring the five senior Panther volleyball members, Tennessee State played spoilers to the celebrations as the Panthers dropped a four-set affair to the Tigers (22-25, 25-18, 23-25, 19-25). The Panthers finish the regular season with a 16-14 overall record (11-5 OVC) and will enter the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament next weekend as the third overall seed, with a contest against six-seed Tennessee Tech in a first round matchup.
The Panthers and Tigers kept things close to begin the first-set, but after Chelsea Lee tied the set at 5-5, the Tigers began to control the momentum. Tennessee State would lead by as many as nine points (23-14), but EIU would close the gap late. The Panthers pulled to within two scores at 22-24 in part to a pair of Tiger errors and a kill from Allie Hueston, but TSU would earn the deciding point from a kill from Ayanna Chase at 25-22.
Tennessee State would control the early stages in the second-set, until a Tiger error would tie the set at 11-11. Another kill from Lee would tie the set once more at 12-12. With the score tied at 13-13, the Panthers would use two Tiger errors to propel them for the rest of the set. A kill by Josie Winner and a TSU error gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the set at 22-17 before a TSU timeout. The Panthers would finish the set scoring three out of the last four points with the help of a Stephanie Wallace ace and back-to-back kills from Lee to take a 25-18 victory heading into the break.
Tennessee State would come out of the gates quick to start the third-set as they raced out to a 7-0 lead before the Panthers could put anything together. After a Panther error put the score at 13-5 in favor of TSU, Eastern Illinois began to find their grove. A kill by Abby Saalfrank and a TSU error gave EIU their first lead of the set at 22-21. Tennessee State use a timeout, and served as a momentum killer to the Panther run as TSU would score the last three points of the set to steal the third-set win by a score of 25-23.
The Panthers were the ones who saw the early lead to begin the fourth-set as they would take an early 5-2 advantage off of a Lee kill. Tennessee State would take a one point lead at 10-9, but Taylor Smith would quickly give the Panthers the edge at 11-10 with a kill. That would be the last lead for the Panthers however as the Tigers would go on to win the set by a score of 25-19.
Lee finished with a match-high 14 kills, while fellow senior, Saalfrank added 10. Senior Wallace led the defensive efforts with 22 digs. Smith finished the night with a double-double as she earned 39 assists to her 13 digs.
The OVC Tournament will be held at Murray State next weekend (Nov. 19-21) as they finished as the number-one seed overall. Belmont, Eastern Illinois, Tennessee State, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee Tech, Morehead State, and Southeast Missouri rounded out the seeding’s for the tournament.
MURRAY STATE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball team closed its regular season and did Senior Day in style Saturday morning at Racer Arena as MSU swept Morehead State 25-19, 25-16 and 25-12. The Racers improve to 25-2 overall and 15-1 in OVC play.
The Racers controlled every facet of the match, hitting .343 as a team and holding the Eagles (10-20, 7-9 OVC) to just .095 as a team. MSU also held an 11-1 edge in service aces in the win. Morehead did out-block the Racers 7-3 in the match.
Taylor Olden led the team with nine kills in the sweep while Kristen Besselsen had seven and Olivia Chatman and Emily Schmahl recorded six kills each. Sam Bedard and Alysaa Lelm tallied five kills apiece. Bedard hit a team-best .714 while Lelm hit .444, Chatman hit .400 and Olden hit .375.
Bedard led the team with 28 assists in the win and also notched a career-high six service aces in the match. Ellie Lorenz led the Racers with 10 digs and Besselsen chipped in with seven.
It was Senior Day at Racer Arena as Bedard, Lelm, Olden and Schmahl all played in their final regular season matches at home. MSU returns to action Nov. 19 as they host the OVC Tournament Nov. 19-21. The Racers will face Southeast Missouri at 7 p.m. MSU swept both meetings earlier this year with the Redhawks.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (10-19, 6-10 OVC) fell to Jacksonville State (15-20, 4-11 OVC) in five sets Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale (22-25, 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 15-17).
Prior to the contest, seniors Taylor Masterson and Haley Roberts were honored by coaches and fans.
Southeast maintained control through much of the first set over the Gamecocks. At 22-20, the Redhawks looked to finish the set until the Gamecocks strung together five-straight points to steal the frame. Krissa Gearring led Southeast with five kills in the set.
The Redhawks fed of the late loss, storming to a 6-1 lead in the second set. Strong offense allowed Southeast to cruise to a 25-18 set two victory to tie the match. As a team, the Redhawks sported a .341 attack percentage as Madalyn Werths and Masterson tallied six and five kills, respectively.
After an early point-for-point contest, strong defense allowed the Redhawks to pull away in the third frame with a 14-10 lead. Southeast's accurate strikes allowed for another 25-18 set victory on a kill by Nzingha Clarke. Gearring was able to register another five kills in the set.
Battling back, the Gamecocks held control for the majority of the fourth frame. Several late kills by Gearring allowed the Redhawks to claw their way back into the set, pulling within one at 24-23. JSU was able to fend off the come back attempt however, forcing a fifth set with a 25-23 victory in the frame.
The Gamecocks and Redhawks battled down to the wire in the fifth set. With both teams tied at 15, JSU claimed the next two rallies to claim the match, 3-2.
Gearring led the Redhawks with 20 kills, followed by Masterson (15) and Werths (13). Gearring and Masterson both earned double-doubles during the contest, earning 22 and 11 digs respectively. Marie Less also tallied 22 digs as Southeast combined for 75 as a team. Keegan Fornoff led the Redhawks with 43 assists while sneaking in four kills as well. Southeast defensive pressure earned another double digit blocks performance, earning 12 on the night.