SATURDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 3, Tennessee Tech 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-15)
@Murray State 3, Tennessee State 0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-18)
Eastern Kentucky 3, @Southeast Missouri 0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-22)
@UT Martin 3, Morehead State 1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21)
@Eastern Illinois 3, Jacksonville State 2 (23-25, 21-25, 27-25, 27-25, 15-11)
SIUE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A three-set sweep for SIUE volleyball Saturday over Tennessee Tech extends the Cougars' winning streak to eight matches.
SIUE overpowered Tennessee Tech 25-21, 25-14, 25-15 at the Vadalabene Center to improve its season record to 18-4 overall and 8-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference. Tennessee Tech dropped to 3-19 overall and 1-9 in the OVC.
The Cougars turned in their most efficient offensive performance of the season, hitting a crisp .396 against the Golden Eagles with 48 kills, right attack errors and 96 total attacks.
Jackie Scott led the Cougars with 13 kills and finished with a .426 hitting percentage.
Ashley Witt, who received a volleyball during pre-match ceremonies to commemorate her 1,000th career kill earlier this season, was dominant at the net with 12 kills, no errors and 17 attacks for a .706 hitting percentage. The Cougar senior also added four blocks.
Taylor Houck led Tennessee Tech with nine kills. The Golden Eagles hit .206 as a team.
SIUE's strength also allowed for key substitutions during the match. Carley Ramich, who had two kills and a block, saw her first action of the season after battling back from a preseason injury.
Freshman Gabby Wimes also appeared in the third set.
MURRAY STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball team was able to close out Tennessee State in three sets Saturday afternoon at Racer Arena, winning 28-26, 25-21 and 25-18 to win its third consecutive game. With the win, the Racers improve to 15-7 overall and 7-3 in OVC play.
Rachel Holthaus led the way offensively for MSU with a big match. Holthaus had a match-high 13 kills in the win and also hit an impressive .632. Rachel Giustino added 11 kills and a team-high three block assists. Katirah Johnson also had a bigtime match for the Racers as she had 10 kills and hit .833.
Becca Fernandez led the Racer back row in the win as she notched a match-best 17 digs. Callie Anderton added nine digs and also led the way with 41 assists.
MSU hit .291 for the match and held the Tigers (6-17, 2-8 OVC) to just a .121 attack percentage. The Racers also had five team blocks in the win while TSU had four. With the win, MSU is now 6-1 at home in 2017.
Tennessee State was led by Rachel Henderson with 11 kills while Katora Roberts has 10. Samantha Beltran notched a double-double with 20 assist and 12 digs.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEA, Mo. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team has won two matches straight after downing Southeast Missouri State in straight sets Saturday afternoon at the Houck Field House.
The Colonels won by scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-22.
Eastern Kentucky was up two sets to none going into the third stanza, but quickly found itself on the losing end of a 9-5 score. EKU scored four of the next five points to draw within one, 10-9, but back-to-back attack errors from the Colonels put the Redhawks back up three, 12-9. Middle blocker Kaylin Johnson came up with a putaway to help spark five unanswered points, tilting the set in favor of Eastern, 14-12. The set featured three more ties before Southeast Missouri committed a trio of attack errors to put EKU within two of the win, 23-21. Kills from Johnson and Cassie Knutson concluded the match, 25-22.
The squads took turns exchanging points for most of the first set. The Colonels were clinging onto a one point advantage, 14-13, when senior Celina Sanks notched a commanding kill, paving the way for a 9-1 run that ended with another putaway from the Butler, Penn. native, 23-14. SEMO responded with seven unanswered points of its own, 23-21, but a duo of kills from Sanks and Clairissa Hankinson stifled the run, ending the set 25-21.
The second frame was similar to the first with the teams going blow-for-blow down the stretch. Again, Eastern created a gap with a 5-1 run at a crucial time to move the score to 19-13. Southeast drew within one, 22-21, but kills from Knutson and Lauren Kolenik helped to seal the set, 25-23.
Sanks tied to lead all players with 12 kills, she also poured in 17 digs to contribute her ninth double-double of the season. Kolenik added 11 to the Colonel total for a match second-best.
Knutson and Maria Ferragonio were each in double-figures in assists with 15 and 17 respectively.
The victory moves Eastern Kentucky to 9-15 (7-3 Ohio Valley Conference) while Southeast Missouri State falls to 8-16 (3-7 OVC).
Southeast Missouri's Krissa Gearring recorded a team-high 12 kills to go with 10 digs while Mikayla Kuhlmann had 11 kills. Ally Dion led the Redhawk defense with 19 digs. Allie Henkelman also had a double-double with 21 assists and 16 digs.
UT MARTIN 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Senior Jemima Idemudia was a force on both ends this afternoon for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team as the Skyhawks turned away Ohio Valley Conference rival Morehead State by a 3-1 margin (25-17, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21).
Idemudia dialed up a match-high 16 kills with just two errors in 24 swings for a blistering .583 attack percentage. She also added a match-high seven blocks (four solo), three digs and her first service ace of the season for the Skyhawks, who improve to 11-12 overall with a 5-5 OVC record.
Kenzie Hinshaw (27 assists) and Kelly Lean (17 assists) helped the UT Martin offense flow smoothly while Brooke Gyori (match-high 21 digs) and Jamie Rys (10 digs) came through with big defensive efforts for the Skyhawks.
The match began with back-to-back kills by Idemudia and Reigelsperger as UT Martin stormed off to a 5-1 lead in the first set. Hannah Phillips provided two kills in the span of three points before Idemudia compiled three kills and an assisted block in a four-point stretch to give the Skyhawks a 15-7 advantage. The Eagles accounted for six of the next eight points but Gray helped erase the Morehead State run with three consecutive kills. UT Martin stretched its lead out to double-figures before a Phillips kill ended the set and put the Skyhawks on top, 1-0.
Idemudia was perfect (five kills in five attempts) as UT Martin hit .423 with 14 kills and three errors in the first set.
The Eagles were responsible for five of the first six points in the second set but kills by Justine Walker, Phillips and Rys helped the Skyhawks climb back for a 9-8 lead. Morehead State came back with a 9-4 run to go ahead 17-13 but two Rys kills aided UT Martin back to an 18-18 tie. Four more ties followed but the Eagles secured three of the final four points after the score was knotted at 22-all.
Walker notched four kills while Gyori and Macy Catlett each scooped six digs in the second set for the Skyhawks.
UT Martin led 4-2 in the third set but Morehead State came back to tie the score at 5-5. The Skyhawks soon reeled off five straight points as part of a 9-2 surge on their way to doubling up the Eagles by a 16-8 margin. Morehead State answered with nine of the next 12 points to close within two points (19-17) but the UT Martin trio of Rys, Phillips and Idemudia each provided rally killers to halt the Eagle momentum and deliver a third-set win for the Skyhawks.
Idemudia was once again a perfect 5-of-5 in kills in the third stanza while Gyori chipped in with six more digs.
UT Martin held a sizeable lead in the fourth set before staving off a Morehead State rally to take the match. The Skyhawks went ahead by a 4-1 margin and used the help of Idemudia to expand their lead to 15-7, as the middle blocker from Glendale, Ariz. generated a kill and a pair of solo blocks in the span of three points. All in all, UT Martin posted 11 of 14 points during one stretch to take a 20-10 advantage but the Eagles used a 7-0 run to eventually get back within two points at 22-20. However, the Skyhawks soon tallied three of the final four points to earn the win.
The UT Martin defense limited Morehead State to a -.028 hitting percentage (10 errors, 11 kills) in 36 attempts.
The Eagles were led by Loren Rokey with 14 kills while Jessie Wachtman had 11 kills. Chandler Clark had a double-double with 23 assist and 13 digs.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 3
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois volleyball played host to Jacksonville State in an OVC conference matchup Saturday night. The Panthers beat the Gamecocks winning in five sets (23-25, 21-25, 27-25, 27-25, and 15-11).
The first set featured a close battle between the Gamecocks and Panthers. Both teams combined for nine ties and three lead changes throughout the set. Jacksonville State would come out on top in the first set defeating the Panthers 25-23. Leading the Jacksonville State attack was Allyson Zuhlke who totaled five kills on the set.
Similar to the first set the second set featured back and forth play. Taylor Smith gave the Panthers the offensive push they were looking for leading EIU with five kills in the set. However, Smiths help wouldn’t be enough and the Panthers would fall in the second set 21-25.
The Panthers would spoil the Gamecocks chance at a sweep winning the third set 27-25. Leading the Panther comeback was Allie Hueston who tallied seven kills in the set. EIU hit for their best average of the match hitting for an average of .297.
The Panther comeback would continue in the forth set as the Panthers grabbed the set 27-25. Laurel Bailey and Hueston both combined for six kills each to spark the Panthers offense. Defensively the Panthers combined for four total blocks in the set.
EIU would complete the comeback taking the fifth set over Jacksonville State 15-11. Smith, Hueston, Bailey, and Abby Knight all closed out the match finishing with double-digits in kills. Hueston would finish with her season best in kills totaling 23, and points with 27. Bailey also closed out the set claiming a season high in kills with 17, and points with 27.
Smith would grab her sixth triple-double of the season finishing with ten kills, team-high 34 assists, and 14 digs. Leading the Panthers defensively was Bailey who claimed 27 digs. Leading in blocks for EIU was Hueston who collected a ten.
Jacksonville State was led by Kaylee Frear with 23 kills while Allyson Zuhlke added 19. Rachel Perucki notched a double-double with 29 assist and 13 digs. Jennifer Hart also recored a double-double with 29 assists and 15 digs. Hannah Kirk led the team with 35 digs.