FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Belmont 1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20)
@Morehead State 3, Tennessee State 1 (25-12, 25-20, 22=25, 27-25)
@SIUE 3, Murray State 2 (25-22, 25-19, 16-25, 24-23, 15-13)
Austin Peay 3, @Eastern Illinois 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-14)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Tennessee Tech 0 (25-21, 25-13, 28-26)
@Jacksonville State 3, UT Martin 2 (20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, BELMONT 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Three Colonels poured in double-digit kills to help the Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team to a 3-1 win over Belmont University Friday night at McBrayer Arena.
EKU won by scores of 18-25, 25-22, 23-25 and 20-25.
After dropping the second set Eastern Kentucky came out of the break and found itself in a 14-12 hole. A Bruin service error and kill from freshman Lauren Kolenik knotted the teams at 16 all. The squads went point-for-point down the back-end of the stanza but an EKU attack error and kill from Belmont’s Arianna Person again put the Bruins at a two-point advantage, 20-18. Senior Celina Sanks came up with a putaway to lead the Colonels to four unanswered points to switch the lead in favor of Eastern, 22-20. Belmont made three more attempts to regain control of the set but a duo of kills from Nikki Drost closed the set, 25-23, and gave EKU a one-set advantage, 2-1.
Eastern opened the final frame with a kill from Sanks and a service ace from libero Chloe Rojas to take an early 2-0 lead and never looked back. BU got on the board with a kill from Emma Price, but Cassie Knutson responded with a kill and service ace to grow the Colonel lead, 4-1. EKU maintained the lead through the duration of the set, but putaways from Drost and Sanks and an error from the Bruins allowed Eastern to take the largest lead of the set, 23-17. Eastern Kentucky errors and a kill from Belmont’s Brie Lewis let the Bruins draw within four, 24-20, but a service error stifled the attempt and ended the match, 25-20.
Knutson racked up her third triple-double of the season with 10 kills, 19 assists and 10 digs while Sanks contributed her 10th double-double of the season, leading the Colonels with 14 kills and 12 digs. Drost added 10 kills.
Belmont’s Person notched 18 kills, Lewis racked up six blocks and Price came up with 43 assists for match-highs.
Maria Ferragonio led EKU with 20 assists paired with a career-high 14 digs for her second career double-double.
Rojas paced all players in digs with 19 and Kaylin Johnson chipped in five blocks for the match.
After the victory EKU improves to 10-15 (8-3 Ohio Valley Conference) and Belmont drops to 11-12 (6-5 OVC).
MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - After claiming the first two sets in comfortable fashion, Morehead State volleyball (12-12, 3-8 Ohio Valley Conference) won an exhilarating fourth set to earn a 3-1 victory over Tennessee State (6-19, 2-9 OVC) on Friday night at Wetherby Gym.
The Eagles won the contest by scores of 25-12, 25-20, and 27-25.
On the heels of a 25-22 loss in the third set, Morehead State faced a 21-15 deficit late in the fourth. The Eagles exploded for four straight points, then traded scores until the game was tied at 25. A service error from Tennessee State set up a match-winning kill by Olivia Lohmeier, ending the Tigers' hopes for a fifth set.
A trio of Eagles led the way for Morehead State, as Lohmeier, Jordan Jones, and Lauren Rokey recorded 14 kills each. Jones added a game-high 24 assists, complemented by nine digs and one block. Rokey logged eight digs and two blocks.
Morehead State held Tennessee State to just a .139 hitting percentage as a team. The Eagles jumped out to a .429 hitting percentage after a 13-point win in the first set, but ended the match hitting .256.
Tennessee State was led by Rachel Henderson with 12 kills while Curstyn Wilson added a team-best 13 digs. Samantha Beltran dished out 21 assists in the match.
SIUE 3, MURRAY STATE 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball extended its Ohio Valley Conference-best winning streak to nine matches with a thrilling five-set victory over Murray State at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars improved to 19-4 overall and 9-2 in the OVC with a 25-22, 25-19, 16-25, 23-25, 15-13 victory. That dropped Murray State to 15-8 overall and 7-4 in the OVC.
It also was SIUE's first win against the Racers since 2013, halting a nine-match losing streak.
SIUE won the first two sets, and Murray State came back to win the next two sets.
That set up a crucial fifth set, the fifth consecutive time these two teams have battled to that point.
Murray State grabbed the early lead in the fifth set 8-5 as the two teams switched sides. After the short break, SIUE went on a 5-1 run that included two service aces by Katie Shashack.
The Cougars took the lead in the fifth set 9-8 on a kill by Emily Harrison.
Murray State fought back with a kill by Dacia Brown and a service ace by Callie Anderton to lead 10-9.
The two teams tied one final time at 11-11 before SIUE grabbed a three-point lead off Jordyn Klein's serve that included a kill by Taylor Joens.
Murray State held off two match points, but Joens, who led SIUE with 16 kills, downed the ball for victory.
Witt joined Joens in double figures with 15 kills. SIUE hit .170 as a team.
Murray State's Rachel Holthaus led all players with 21 kills. Rachel Giustino added 12 for the Racers. Murray State hit .200 as a team.
SIUE finished with 100 digs for the second time this season. Shashack led the Cougars with 24.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Senior Ashley Slay and redshirt junior Christina White combined for 22 kills as Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team handed head coach Taylor Mott her 100th APSU victory in a three-set sweep (25-19, 25-23, 25-14) of Eastern Illinois, Friday, at Lantz Arena.
Austin Peay (22-4, 10-1 OVC) needed to fend off a Panthers’ challenge in the second set. The Governors got to set point in the second, 24-21, thanks to a junior Logan Carger kill. But Eastern Illinois got back-to-back kills from Laurel Bailey to stave off set point. Governors’ freshman Brooke Moore ended the frame with a kill.
Eastern Illinois (12-11, 6-5 OVC) threw its best shots at the Govs in the first and second sets, but could not make it pay off. Austin Peay’s defense flexed its advantage in the third set with 21 digs and three blocks to limit the Panthers to a negative-.075 attack percentage to clinch the match.
Mott became just the second Governors head coach to record 100 wins at Austin Peay, joining APSU Athletics Hall of Fame member Cheryl Holt. It also was Mott’s 404th career victory.
Slay led the Govs with 12 kills and two blocks while White added 10 kills, two aces and two blocks. Their 22 kills were the bulk of the Govs 41-kill outing.
Maria Brown paced Eastern Illinois with 10 kills. The Panthers were credited with 35 kills but held to a .124 attack percentage.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, UT MARTIN 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State came from behind to defeat visiting UT Martin in five sets (20-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11). With the win the Gamecocks improved to 20-11 overall and 6-6 in OVC play while the Skyhawks fell to 11-14 overall and 5-7 in league action.
Kaylee Frear and Allyson Zuhlke led Jacksonville State with 13 kills each while Charis Ludtke chipped in 11. Hannah Kirk had a team-high 19 digs while Rachel Perucki dished out 27 assists. Jennifer Hart finished with a double-double with 17 assists and 15 digs.
UT Martin's Megan Fair notched a double-double with a team-high 12 kills and 15 digs. Justine Walker and Hannah Phillips each added 11 kills. Brooke Gyori led the defense with 23 digs. Kenzie Hinshaw also had a double-double with 23 assists and 18 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri swept Tennesseee Tech on Friday night. Scores were 25-21, 25-13, 28-26.
The Redhawks Krissa Gearring led the team as she notched a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Ally Dion paced the defense wtih 16 digs while Marie Less added 10 digs. Allie Henkelman also had a double-double with 25 assists and 12 digs.
Rachel Thomas led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills while Shealene Little recorded a team-high 17 kills. Susie Jeziorowski had 15 assists while Kirsten Brugere added 14 digs.