SATURDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 3, Eastern Michigan 2 (25-16, 25-19, 25-28, 18-25, 15-13)
SIUE 3, Bradley 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-23)
Drake 3,
Jacksonville State 0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-23)
@North Dakota 3,
Jacksonville State 0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18)
@Norte Dame 3,
Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-21)
Arkansas 3,
Southeast Missouri 0 (25-7, 25-16, 25-10)
Winthrop 3,
Tennessee State 0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-16)
Austin Peay 3, UAB 0 (25-15, 25-22, 28-26)
Murray State 3, @Indiana State 0 (25-10, 26-24, 27-25)
Baylor 3,
Eastern Illinois 1 (26-24, 18-25, 25-19, 25-13)
@Dayton 3,
Eastern Illinois 1 (25-20, 25-16, 24-26, 25-19)
Mississippi State 3,
Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-13)
Memphis 3,
Tennessee Tech 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-21)
Auburn 3,
Tennessee Tech 0 (25-17, 28-26, 25-22)
IPFW 3,
UT Martin 1 (25-22, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18)
Eastern Michigan 3,
UT Martin 2 (25-16, 25-20, 23-25, 24-26, 15-10)
Southeast Missouri 3, Northwestern State 1 (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21)
Ball State 3,
Morehead State 1 (22-25, 25-20, 28-25, 25-19)
Chattanooga 3,
Austin Peay 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-14)
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN MICHIGAN 2; MURRAY STATE 3, INDIANA STATE 0
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - It was a hard-fought second day at the Sycamore Holiday Inn Classic Saturday for the Murray State volleyball team. The Racers (7-1) won their first match of the day in an extremely tough five sets over Eastern Michigan. Set scores went 25-16, 25-19, 26-28, 18-25 and 15-13. Against host school Indiana State, the Racers were able to sweep the Sycamores, but the match was much closer than the three-set sweep would indicate as MSU won 25-20, 26-24, 27-25.
Against the Eagles (7-3), Scottie Ingram led the charge offensively, recording a season-best 21 kills in the five-set thriller. Ingram also recorded 11 digs in the win, which is her second double-double of the season. Kristen Besselsen added 14 kills and was one of her career-high with 18 digs. Taylor Olden added 13 kills, while Alyssa Lelm had nine.
Sam Bedard’s 49 assists and team-high 21 digs were by far both season-highs for her. Ellie Lorenz added 20 digs in the match from her libero position. For the match, the Racers hit .143 as a team while the Eagles hit 0.87. EMU out-blocked the Racers 11-4 and also had six service aces and just four errors, while MSU had four aces and nine serving errors.
Olden led MSU with 17 kills in the sweep over Indiana State (8-4) and also added a season-high 11 digs in the match for her third double-double of 2015. Besselsen, Ingram and Lelm all had 10 kills each in the victory.
For the second consecutive match, Bedard led MSU in assists and digs, recording 41 and 15, respectively. Lorenz added 13 digs and Besseslsen chipped in with 10. Ingram led the team with three total blocks (two solo, one assisted) in the win and also tied a career-high with five aces.
The Racers close their nonconference schedule next weekend as they travel to Rock Hill, S.C., for the Winthrop Invitational Sept. 18 and 19.
SIUE 3, BRADLEY 0
KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Kristen Torre became the ninth SIUE volleyball player in history to record 1,000 kills Saturday as the Cougars swept past Bradley in its final match of the Kangaroo Klassic.
SIUE volleyball, now 2-7 overall, polished off its first three-set sweep of the season with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-23 victory. Bradley dropped to 5-4.
SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson said teams are targeting Torre in their scouting reports, and Torre appears to be rising to the occasion.
The Highland, Illinois, native, recorded her 1,000th kill to tie the score 23-23 in the third set of the match. Her 1,001st kill came on match point.
Torre led the Cougars once again with 12 kills against the Braves and was named to the All-Tournament team, her second straight week of being named SIUE's top player.
SIUE came out strong against the Braves, holding Bradley to six kills in the opening set. The Cougars earned four team blocks in the opening set. Torre would lead the team for the match with seven.
SIUE's defense also added 49 digs, including 19 from libero Katie Shashack.
The third set was especially important for the Cougars. Bradley rushed out to an 8-1 lead in the set powered by three kills from Allison Turner. SIUE was down by six points (23-17) before scoring the final eight points of the match off Shashack's serve. That included the final two kills by Torre.
The Cougars close out the nonconference season next Saturday with a noon CT matchup at Cincinnati.
WINTHROP 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Tennessee State volleyball team dropped their final game of the Georgia Southern Tournament 3-0 to Winthrop on Saturday.
Winthrop defense and a total of 27 Tiger errors made it hard for TSU to produce. For the match, the Tigers hit for a negative percentage (-.023) with 22 kills on 88 attempts, while the Eagles hit .275 with 38 kills on 91 attempts.
Junior Chloe Watson, who had nine kills and produced a team high of nine points, led the Tigers. Junior Puamana Danielson led the team with 11 digs, while sophomore Samantha Beltran led the team in assists (18) and recorded two kills and six digs.
BAYLOR 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1; DAYTON 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
DAYTON, Ohio - The Eastern Illinois University volleyball team looked to bounce back after dropping their opening match at the Dayton Invitational to Cleveland State the night before, but dropped a pair of games in the final day of the tournament to host Dayton 3-1 (20-25,16-25,26-24,19-25), and Baylor 3-1 (24-26,25-18,19-25,13-25).
Dayton 3, EIU 1
The Panthers knew that they were going to be tested playing on the road in front of the Dayton home crowd, but the Flyers took command from the first set, and won the four set match 3-1 over the Panthers.
In the first set, the Panthers were able to battle with the Flyers as the two teams alternated leads with the final tie occurring after a Taylor Smith kill put the game at 20-20. Dayton would then earn the next five points in the game, and would win set one 25-20.
The Panthers struggled to get anything going in the second set, and the Flyers took full advantage as they raced out to a commanding 8-2 lead. A kill from Josie Winner brought EIU back to within two, but the Flyers would again find their rhythm and earned the second set victory 25-16.
Heading into the third set, EIU were determined to not drop the game in straight sets. Both teams saw their lead increase to as many as four points, but those leads would quickly change. With the Panthers ahead by a point, Maria Brown sealed up the set with a kill of her own to give the Panthers a 26-24 decision in game three.
Abby Saalfrank put EIU ahead by a point early in the fourth set, but the Flyers attack would get the best of the Panthers despite a late comeback, as Dayton would win the fourth set by a score of 25-19, and the match 3-1.
Smith nabbed her first triple-double of her career as she finished the match with 11 kills, 14 assists, and 15 digs.
Baylor 3, EIU 1
EIU battled Baylor throughout their four set match in the Panthers final game at the Dayton Invitational, but the Bears came out on top with a 3-1 victory.
In the first set, the Panthers were able to work their way back into the game as a kill from Kayla Nesbitt tied the score at 10-10. EIU would tie the score again late following a Baylor attacking error, but the Bears would take the tight first set 26-24.
The phrase score early, and score often was the tale of the second set for EIU as the Panthers jumped out to a commanding 10-4 lead due to another Brown put-down, and would not let up from there, earning the second set 25-18.
The third set appeared to be a big momentum changer for the match between the two teams. Baylor would see a commanding 16-8 lead, but one final rally by the Panthers and another Saalfrank kill closed the lead to three. A string of miscues by EIU gave Baylor set three 25-19.
The fourth set belonged to the Baylor Bears as the EIU Panthers would struggle the entire set and would drop the four game 25-13 and the match 3-1.
Saalfrank finished with 10 kills, while Stephanie Wallace contributed 16 digs to lead the Panthers.
The Panthers will hit the court again next weekend at the Oakland Golden Grizzly Invitational, in Rochester, Michigan. The two-day event will take place on Friday, Sept. 18, and finish on Saturday, Sept. 19. EIU is slated to face Ohio State, host Oakland, Dartmouth, and Western Michigan during tournament play.
NOTRE DAME 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0; MISSISSIPPI STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Eastern Kentucky lost a pair of matches on the final day of the Golden Dome Invitational hosted by Notre Dame. The Colonels fell to host Notre Dame, 3-0, before losing to Mississippi State, 3-0.
Notre Dame (4-4) won by scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-14. Mississippi State (7-3) beat Eastern 25-20, 25-10 and 25-13.
Celina Sanks had a team-best nine kills for Eastern against the Irish. Chloe Rojas finished with 11 digs while fellow freshman Cassie Knutson contributed a team-high 10 assists. Sam Fry led Notre Dame with 17 kills to go along with a .433 attack percentage.
Notre Dame held a 7.5-1.0 edge in blocks and hit .298 as a team.
Sanks and Ally Peters led the team with seven kills each against Mississippi State. Sanks added eight digs. Peters posted a .385 attack percentage. Jazmyne Johnson and Evie Grace Singleton led all players with 14 kills each for the Bulldogs. Johnson did not make an error in 21 attacks for a .667 attack percentage.
As a team, Mississippi State made just nine errors in 90 attacks and hit .456. Eastern had 17 errors and a .101 attack percentage.
MEMPHIS 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0; AUBURN 4, TENNESSEE TECH 0
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - A tough battle against great teams is what the Tennessee Tech volleyball team (1-9, 0-0 OVC) faced this weekend. The Golden Eagles are comprised of a young team and have done a lot of growing. They faced a tough opponent in Memphis (6-3), falling 3-0 to the Tigers with set scores of 25-20, 25-21, and 25-21. Tech then went on to face Auburn (7-2) where they were defeated 3-0, with the Tigers taking winning set scores of 25-17, 28-26, and 25-22.
Against Memphis, Tech took an early 7-4 lead in the first set, however, the Tigers recovered and tied the match at 10-10. The Golden Eagles and Tigers battled maintaining ties of 12-12 and 16-16. From there, the two teams held within one point of each other until 20-20. Then, Memphis took advantage of Tech errors and closed out the first set 25-20.
It was a close start in the second. The Golden Eagles and Tigers started off with a tie of 7-7. Memphis then went on an 8-2 run to pull ahead 15-9, and continued to create a six-point lead, 22-16. A kill by Cody Dodd brought Tech within five, 24-19, however, they could not recover in time and Memphis took the second set 25-21.
In the third, the Tigers opened with a 6-3 lead. The Golden Eagles fought back and tied the match at 6-6. From there, Memphis went on an 11-6 run and pulled ahead 17-12. Kills by Kellie Williams and Shaneice James brought Tech within three, 17-14. Tiger errors allowed the Golden Eagles to pull within two, 22-20, however Memphis held on and took the third set and the match 25-21.
Tech was led by Dodd, who was named to the Memphis All-Tournament team, had 18 kills, 10 digs and a .268 attacking percentage. Sharon Anderson totaled 24 assists and 11 digs, while teammate Kennedy Wade contributed 14 digs. Memphis was led by Summer Morgan who had 10 kills in the match.
Against Auburn, the Tigers opened with a dominating 12-6 lead, and continued to capitalize, pulling ahead by eight, 19-11. Auburn continued to play aggressive and sailed to a first set victory 25-17.
A score of 8-4 started off the second set in favor of the Tigers. The Golden Eagles pulled within one, 12-11, off of a kill by Dodd and a Tiger attack error, and then continued to tie the game at 13-13. Tech and Auburn held a tight match after that, no team pulling more than two points ahead of the other until Auburn took a three-point lead at 20-17. Tiger errors and a strong defense helped the Golden Eagles tie the score back at 22-22. Kills by Cody Dodd held ties at 23, 24, and 25, however, Auburn kept a slight edge over Tech and took a second set victory 28-26.
A tie of 8-8 kicked off the third set between the Golden Eagles and the Tigers. Auburn went on to take a three-point lead, 14-11, but a kill from Shealene Little brought Tech back within one at 14-13 and allowed them to tie the game at 15-15. The Tigers went on a 5-2 run and pulled ahead 20-17. A service ace by Kirsten Brugere brought the Golden Eagles back within two, 22-20, however Auburn held on and closed out the third set and the match 25-22.
Dodd led the Golden Eagles with 11 kills and a .150 hitting percentage. Anderson acquired 29 kills, while teammate Wade captured 10 digs.
The Golden Eagles will return home on Sept. 18-19, for the Golden Eagle Invitational Presented by Hampton Inn, facing opponents of Towson, Western Carolina, and Idaho.
DRAKE 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0; NORTH DAKOTA 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
GRAND FORKS, N.D., - The Jacksonville State volleyball team lost its final two matches of the UND Volleyball Classic inside the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, N.D., falling to Drake and host-school, North Dakota.
The Gamecocks (4-7) couldn't finish against Drake letting two sets slip away late in the first game of the day.
JSU struggled to get things going against Drake (7-4) in the opening contest. The Bulldogs hit .429 in the opening set compared to JSU's .143 attack percentage. Sophomore Charis Ludtke's four kills in the first frame weren't enough as JSU fell 25-15.
The second set was much tighter as JSU tied the game, 7-7, on a block from freshman Kim Krutsinger. Drake pulled away briefly, but the Gamecocks responded to tie the set at 21. The Bulldogs took the next three points on their way to a 25-22 set win.
JSU suffered a similar setback in the third set falling 25-23, after being tied late in the game. The Gamecocks trailed 16-12 coming out of a timeout when a 6-2 streak evened the score, 18-18. The set was again tied at 23 when Drake took the final two points by way of a kill and service ace.
Ludtke and senior Emily Rutherford each had double-double performances. Ludtke recorded 11 kills and 10 digs, while Rutherford had 10 kills and 11 digs. Sophomore Hannah Kirk led with 14 digs.
In the second match, JSU dropped straight sets to the University of North Dakota (7-4) on their home court.
Trailing 17-23 in the first set, the Gamecocks made a late push to draw within one, 23-22, before UND closed out the frame 25-22. Fueled by a strong crowd inside the Sioux Center, North Dakota took control early in the second opening a 6-1 advantage. A .395 attack percentage powered UND to a 25-16 set win. A 9-0 run for UND broke open the third game after it was 9-8. North Dakota completed the sweep winning 25-18. UND finished its tournament with a 4-0 mark.
Rutherford finished the day with 19 kills to lead the Gamecocks. Ludtke was just behind her with 18, while freshman Mackenzie Rombach finihsed with 11. Sophomore Jennifer Hart recorded 59 if JSU's 64 assists on the day. Across the net, sophomore Hannah Kirk finished with 30 digs.
JSU returns to action September 16 traveling to Jackson State, before taking part in the UAB Tournament Sept. 18-19.
BALL STATE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
PULLMAN, Wash. - In their final game of the Courgar Challenge, the Morehead State Volleyball team took the first set over Ball State, 25-22, but would lose three straight to fall to the Cardinals, 3-1. The fell 25-22 (MSU), 25-20 (BSU), 28-26 (BSU), 25-19 (BSU).
MSU came out firing early in the first set as they had nine quick kills and jumped out to a 17-16 lead, including five from freshman Merideth Jewell. They would close out the first set with a 25-22 win, as several Eagles recorded kills, including Jewell, senior Hannah Sigala, junior Sydney Schuler, and sophomore Alli Evans.
After Ball State evened things up with a 25-20 win in the second, Morehead State responded by opening up the third with a 19-13 lead. But, BSU would battle back and take the lead at 26-25. A kill by Schuler evened things up at 26, but two points later Mackenzie Kitchel's kill would give the Cardinals a 28-26 win and a 2-1 lead.
In the early parts of the fourth set, MSU led most of the way, their biggest lead coming at 10-7. But, BSU took the lead at 13-12 off of an attack error by Jewell and would lead the rest of the way. A 10-2 scoring stretch would give BSU a 20-14 lead and they went on to a 25-19 win to seal the match.
Jewell once again led the way for Morehead State with 13 kills on 59 total attacks. She now has double-digit kills in all ten games and a total of 176 on the young season.
Sigala finished with eight kills and seven blocks, while junior Bailey Nichol returned to control the offense with 39 total assists.
Following a stretch of seven straight road games, the Eagles return home next weekend to participate in the Comfort Inn-Vitational. They will face Akron and East Tennessee State on Friday and then close out the tournament against Samford on Saturday.
ARKANSAS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0; SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, NORTHWESTERN STATE 0
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Southeast Missouri (3-6) volleyball split their final two games of the Razorback Invitational on Saturday.
The Redhawks fell to the Arkansas Razorbacks (7-1) on Saturday morning, 3-0 (7-25, 16-25, 10-25). Later that afternoon, the Redhawks bounced back with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21) win over Northwestern State (2-8).
Arkansas 3, Southeast Missouri 0
Arkansas took control early, claiming the first seven straight points. The Razorbacks never allowed the Redhawks to gather momentum, winning the opening stanza, 25-7.
Southeast Missouri battled early in the second frame, keeping Arkansas within reach. Leading 15-13, the Razorbacks strung together a seven-point run, eventually finishing the set 25-16 and taking a two-game lead in the match.
Arkansas carried their momentum into the third game, winning the set 25-10 and sweeping the Redhawks, 3-0.
Krissa Gearring led the Redhawks with eight kills in the match.
Southeast Missouri 3, Northwestern State 1
The Redhawks took advantage early, stringing multiple four point runs together. Down 21-14, the Demons began to battle back. The Redhawks regained control and fended off the late-set Demon attack, claiming the first set 25-21 and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Set two saw a back-and-forth throughout with 13 ties and six lead changes. With Southeast down 21-20, the Redhawks took five of the final six points, finishing the set 25-22 and claiming a two-set lead in the match.
Northwestern State responded in the third frame taking the first four points. The Demons rode their early momentum, taking a lead in the set 18-12. The Redhawks battled back but were never able to overtake the Demons as they took the set 25-23.
In the fourth and final set, the Redhawks offense sparked a six-point run, taking an 18-12 lead. The Redhawks rode the momentum to finish the set 25-21 and claiming the game, 3-1.
Nzingha Clarke was Southeast's kills leaders with 11 and tallied a .296 hitting clip in the match. Madalyn Werths and Gearring each laid down nine kills. Southeast put up nine team blocks, out-blocking the Demons who had 8.5.
Head Coach Julie Yankus commented after the match, "I'm happy with the way we fought in this final match of the weekend. We played a lot more aggressively in all aspects of the game. We adjusted throughout the match as needed. We shut down their outsides so they started forcing the middles. Then we had to adjust to stop their middles and our middles did a great job of quickening up their blocks. Overall, we stayed confident and fought the entire match."
Jade Mortimer was named to the All-Tournament Team for her efforts during the weekend. "Jade had another great weekend", stated Yankus. "She has been a great leader on and off the court this year. Defensively, she is picking up everything in her half of the court. She has also stepped up in serve-receive and is taking a lot more court. I'm very pleased with Jade's performance the entire season so far."
The Redhawks will travel to Carbondale, Illinois to take on regional rival Southern Illinois Tuesday at 6 p.m.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, UAB 0; CHATTANOOGA 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Senior outside hitter Samantha Strother’s 12-kill, 14-dig effort help Austin Peay State University post its first-ever win against UAB in a three-set (25-15, 25-22, 28-26) victory, Saturday morning at the Scenic City Showdown at Maclellan Gym.
Austin Peay (4-6) got off to a slow start and UAB took advantage to build a 4-1 lead in the opening set. Yet the Lady Govs countered with their own 4-1 lead to tie the set, 5-5, for the first of six times. A three-point burst with Strother serving broke the set open and APSU closed the set by scoring nine of the final 12 points to win 25-15.
The second set started with Austin Peay and UAB battling through eight ties and two lead changes in the opening 20 points, the result being a 10-10 tie. A four-point run sparked by back-to-back kills from freshman Cecily Gable and sophomore Ashley Slay gave the Lady Govs some much-needed breathing room. Austin Peay could not build the lead larger, but would not surrender the lead the rest of the set as they went on to win 25-22.
Austin Peay poured on the offense in the third set, recording 21 of its 50 kills in the frame. Despite the outburst, the Lady Govs would not lead by more than four points in the set’s first half. UAB would rally to tie the set at 16-16 and the final stretch featured nine ties and three lead changes as the teams ran headlong into overtime. Austin Peay fended off a set point at 25-26 courtesy a Strother kill and APSU followed with a kill by Kaylee Taff and a Strother service ace to clinch the set, 28-26.
Strother finished with her season’s second double-double, recording 12 kills and 14 digs along with her match-clinch service ace and two blocks. Freshman Cecily Gable added 11 kills at a .429 attack percentage.
Freshman Kristen Stucker posted a career-high 47 assists to guide the APSU offense.
Gabby Deshotel led UAB with 17 kills but was held to a .200 attack percentage. UAB’s offense recorded just 37 kills and was limited to a .174 attack percentage courtesy a nine-block outing by Austin Peay.
Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team could not shake off the rust of a seven-hour gap between matches and dropped a three-set affair (18-25, 17-25, 14-25) to host Chattanooga, Saturday night, in the final match of the Scenic City Showdown at Maclellan Gym.
Austin Peay (4-7) returned to Maclellan Gym over seven hours after wrapping up its first-ever victory against UAB and could not get on track. After trading the opening six points, Chattanooga pieced together a four-point run to build a 7-3 lead. The Mocs slowly eased away from Austin Peay the rest of the set, ultimately claiming a 25-18 win.
Chattanooga (7-2) tried to break away early in the second set, racing out to a 6-2 lead. But the Lady Govs rallied back to take its only lead after a sophomore Ashley Slay’s kill for an 8-7 advantage. The Mocs responded with a 6-2 run to grab a 13-10 lead and again slowly built that advantage into a 25-17 set win.
The Mocs left little question in the final set, grabbing an 8-4 lead and never looking back. Austin Peay would battle at the end, fending off three set points, but Chattanooga’s Emily Plumlee ended the match with a kill for a 25-14 victory.
Senior outside hitter Samantha Strother nearly posted her second straight double-double, leading Austin Peay in both kills (nine) and digs (11). Austin Peay was held to 35 kills and a .143 attack percentage.
Allie Davenport led Chattanooga and all hitters with 13 kills while posting a .500 attack percentage. The Mocs offense posted 47 kills at an efficient .415 attack percentage.
Austin Peay returns home for a 7 p.m., Wednesday contest against North Dakota before starting another seven-match road trip.