SATURDAY'S SCORES
SIUE 3, @Morehead State 0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-17)
UT Martin 3, @Tennessee State 1 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20)
Eastern Illinois 3, @Eastern Kentucky 1 (25-20, 14-25, 27-25, 25-12)
@Belmont 3, Southeast Missouri 0 (25-18, 25-10, 25-21)
Murray State 3, @Tennessee Tech 0 (25-12, 28-26, 25-14)
UT MARTIN 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball squad concluded a four-match road swing on a high note today, dispatching the Tennessee State Tigers in four sets (25-21, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20) in Ohio Valley Conference action.
Today’s win snapped a four-match skid for the Skyhawks and gave UT Martin its most single-season victories (10) in the Jaclynn Yocum-Wilson Era. The Skyhawks are now 4-4 at the midway point of the OVC season.
The UT Martin offense came alive today, as the trio of Megan Fair (15), Jemima Idemudia (12) and Hannah Phillips (12) combined for 39 kills on a .279 hitting percentage. The Skyhawk setter duo of Kenzie Hinshaw (22 assists, 10 digs) and Kelly Lean (20 assists, 10 digs) each recorded a double-double while helping the UT Martin offense run smoothly.
Defensively, Brooke Gyori notched 27 digs today – just two off her career-high of 29 set against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31. Hayley Gray also swatted a match-high six blocks while Justine Walker (five blocks) and Idemudia (four blocks) also set the tone for the Skyhawk defense.
Back-to-back assisted blocks provided UT Martin with its first lead of the match at 4-3 in the opening set. Phillips soon added a pair of kills but an extended Tennessee State run saw the Skyhawks trail by a 16-12 margin. UT Martin followed with nine of the next 12 points, as a Gyori service ace opened up a two-point advantage (21-19) for the Skyhawks. The Tigers evened the score with consecutive kills but Idemudia helped UT Martin rally, as she had three kills during the Skyhawks’ 4-0 run to end the set.
Phillips had four kills with zero errors in seven swings while Gyori compiled nine digs in the opening stanza.
Four different UT Martin players accounted for the first four points of the second set as the Skyhawks raced out to a 9-2 lead. At one point during the opening surge, Fair was responsible for four straight kills as UT Martin opened up its big lead. After Tennessee State closed its gap to 15-12, Gray (kill) and Lean (service ace) responded with quick points to keep the Tigers at bay. The Skyhawks were ahead by a 22-15 margin but Tennessee State reeled off a 7-0 run to tie the score at 22-22. UT Martin quickly put an end to the run and tallied the final three points of the set to go ahead 2-0 in the match.
The duo of Fair and Idemudia combined for eight kills with only two miscues to guide the Skyhawks to the second-set victory.
UT Martin at one point scored 13 unanswered points in the third set but could not hold a 20-11 lead as the Tigers forced a fourth set. The Skyhawks trailed by an 11-7 margin before their lengthy 13-0 run, as UT Martin tallied five points via kill, three points off blocks, three points from attack errors and two points via service aces on its way to the 20-11 advantage. However, Tennessee State piled up the next six points as part of a 14-3 run to conclude the third set.
Hinshaw was the Skyhawks’ defensive star in the third set, as she accounted for eight of the team’s 28 digs.
The fourth set also featured several long runs before UT Martin walked away with the win. The Skyhawks used an early 8-0 run to go on top, aided by a pair of Lean service aces and two Rachel Noffsinger kills. The Tigers then scored five straight points but moments later, Walker slammed down back-to-back rally killers to help UT Martin claim a 16-10 edge. The Skyhawks soon built up a 24-13 lead but Tennessee State kept coming, breaking off a 7-0 run to make the score 24-20 before a Phillips kill ended the Tigers’ comeback hopes.
Fair (six kills) and Gyori (nine digs) helped UT Martin put the finishing touches on the win with strong fourth-set performances.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Eastern Illinois volleyball traveled to Richmond to finish up this weekend's conference play against OVC opponent Eastern Kentucky Saturday afternoon. The Panthers beat the Colonels winning a four-set match (25-20, 14-25, 27-25, and 25-12)
The Panthers came out strong in the first set against Eastern Kentucky taking the set 25-20. EIU went on a 5-0 run to fuel a comeback midway through the set ignited from a Morgan Matusik kill. The Panthers would go on another 5-0 late in the set to lift them over the Colonels. Leading the Panther charge for the set was Taylor Smith who led in kills with four of her ten kills on the day.
The second set was all about Eastern Kentucky as they grabbed the set 25-14. The Colonels did not let the Panthers make another comeback just like in the first set by jumping out to many runs throughout the set. Eastern Kentucky hit for their best average of the match in the second set posting an average of .273.
The third set featured more balance play as both teams tied for a total 14 times and seven lead changes. EIU was able to hold of the Colonels to win the set 27-25. Leading the charge defensively for the Panthers was Madison Cunningham who totaled eight of her twelve digs in the set.
EIU would close out the match strong in the fourth set dominating Eastern Kentucky 25-12. The Panthers jumped out to a quick 4-0 run kicked off from a Laurel Bailey kill. EIU would hop onto another 4-0 run off of a Cassie Knutson attacking error. Leading the charge for the Panthers in the dominant fourth set was Maria Brown who tallied four of her team-leading twelve kills.
Smith claimed her NCAA leading fifth triple-double of the season finishing with ten kills, team-high 31 assists, and tied a team-high 16 digs. Allie Hueston and Brown led the Panthers in kills each totaling 12 kills in the match. Defensively leading the Panthers was Anne Hughes who claimed 16 digs.
Eastern Kentucky's Celina Sanks (14), Cassie Knutson (11) and Nikki Drost (10) all finished with double figures kills. Knutson tacked on 11 assists to finish with a double-double. Maria Ferragonio had a team-best 22 assists. Mallory Maxwell added 17 digs to the Colonel total.
SIUE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - SIUE volleyball won its sixth straight match Saturday, downing Morehead State 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 at Wetherby Gym.
The Cougars improved to 16-4 overall and 6-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Morehead State dropped to 11-10 overall and 2-6 in the OVC.
SIUE turned in its top team hitting percentage of the season at .351, collecting 46 kills and 13 errors on 94 total attacks.
SIUE middle blockers Taylor Joens and Annie Ellis were the top scorers for the Cougars. Joens finished with a .722 hitting percentage with 13 kills. Ellis added eight kills, a .533 hitting percentage and a team-leading four blocks.
Katie Shashack and Samantha Knight anchored the defense with eight digs each.
Morehead State was held to a .157 hitting percentage behind 12 kills from Lauren Rokey and 11 from Olivia Lohmeier.
BELMONT 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Not even a late rally by their opponent could keep Belmont Volleyball from picking up its second win of the weekend on Saturday. The Bruins (11-9, 6-2 OVC) blew by visiting Southeast Missouri State (7-15, 2-6 OVC), 3-0, in the Curb Event Center to improve to 6-2 in OVC play.
The Bruins saw 11 ties over the course of the third frame before pulling out the 25-21 win after holding the Redhawks to a mere 10 points in set two, 25-10. The 10 points was the lowest scored by an opponent in a set s far this season for BU.
Senior Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) finished with a match-high 13 kills. Junior Maggie Mullins (Nashville, Tenn.) recorded 36 assists and senior Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) notched a match-high 13 digs. Graduate student Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.) tallied a pair of service aces.
Southeast Missouri's Allie Henkelman and Ally Dion led the team with seven digs each.
MURRAY STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State volleyball team rebounded nicely Saturday afternoon, sweeping Tennessee Tech on the road in three sets. After the Racers dominated the first set, 25-12, they hung on for a wild 28-26 victory in set two, before finishing off the Golden Eagles 25-14 in the final set.
Rachel Giustino led the Racers (13-7, 5-3 OVC) with a double-double in the match as she had a match-high 14 kills and added 13 digs in the victory. Olivia Chatman added 11 kills and Rachel Holthaus tallied eight kills and also notched 14 digs.
Ashley McBee recorded her second consecutive double-double over the weekend as she tallied 34 assists and 16 digs. Libero Alex Kaufmann led MSU with 18 digs in the victory and Becca Fernandez added 11.
As a team, the Racers out-hit TTU (3-17, 1-7 OVC) in the match .245 to .107. MSU also had a 5-1 edge in total blocks and had four service aces to the Golden Eagles’ one. Fernandez led the Racers on the day with two service aces, while McBee had a team-high three total blocks.
Rachel Thomas led the Golden Eagles with nine kills. Susie Jeziorowski notched a double-double with 28 assist and 13 digs. Kirsten Brugere recorded a match-high 28 digs.