SATURDAY'S SCORES
Belmont 3, @Morehead State 1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-18, 25-21)
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Tennessee State 1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-16)
Murray State 3, @Eastern Illinois 1 (25-27, 25-20, 25-17, 25-21)
@Austin Peay 3, SIUE 2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-8)
BELMONT 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Belmont Volleyball held off a fiesty Morehead State to pull off a win on Saturday afternoon on the road. The Bruins (12-12, 7-5 OVC) held off the Eagles (12-13, 3-9 OVC), 3-1, to snap a three-match slide.
The Eagles played the Bruins close for the first portion of the opening stanza before kills started falling all over the court, courtesy of the big swing of junior Maggie Mullins (Nashville, Tenn.). The set remained tight through the midpoint with the teams separated by one point through most of the action.
MSU called timeout after the Bruins crossed the 20-point threshold first, thanks to a service ace by graduate student Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.) and a pair of unforced errors by the Eagles. Kills by junior Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.), senior Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) opened the door for two more from Mullins to seal the 25-22 win.
BU came out of the gates hot in the second set. Fueled by kills from senior Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) and Eagle attack errors, Belmont pulled away early, 7-4. Morehead State battled back and used errors to knot the score 10-10. The teams traded points once again with neither able to gain more than a one-point differential before their opponent caught up. Finally, MSU pulled ahead by a pair of points, 20-18, and BU called timeout to regroup. The Eagles quickly expanded their lead. A kill by Nichols kept the Bruins within two points but MSU surged for a final time to go on to take the set, 25-21.
After the intermission, the Bruins were firing on all cylinders, taking a convincing 6-1 lead from the top. Morehead State called timeout but the Bruins point assault continued with kills coming from Nichols, Vestal, Person and Lewis. BU doubled up on the Eagles, 16-8, and MSU was forced to call timeout. The brief break was enough to get Morehead State back into the contest with a 3-0 run that saw it hitting at .000 for most of set. However, Belmont regained its composure after the flurry and resumed piling on the points. BU held off another late rally by the Eagles to go on to win the set, 25-18.
Senior Emily Richards (Penfield, N.Y.) opened the fourth set with a service ace hoping to set the tone early. However, the Eagles would not go down without a fight and surged to take an 8-3 lead. Back-to-back kills by Person and Lewis followed by a pair of service aces by Person helped Belmont knot the score, 8-8. A stunned Morehead State bench called timeout to strategize, however, BU used the opportunity to extend its run to 7-0, to pull ahead by two points, 10-8. MSU rallied to knot the score, 13-13.
The set started to resemble earlier ones as the teams traded points through the midpoint but Belmont was able to pull away again after kills by Person and Lewis sandwiched MSU errors. BU was the first to reach 20 points and did not look back. The Bruins only allowed Morehead State to add one more point as they cruised to the 25-21 win.
Two Bruins reached double digits in kills led by Person's match-high 16 kills, followed by Vestal's 10. Senior Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.) finished with a match-high 47 assists. Classmate Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) tallied a match-high 16 digs.
The Eagles were led by the frontline of Lauren Rokey, Olivia Lohmeier, and Jordan Jones. Rokey notched a team-best 15 kills and nine digs, hitting .367 on the day. Lohmeier followed closely behind with 14 kills and a .407 hitting percentage, while Jones tallied 12 kills and a team-high 28 assists.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
RICHMOND, Ky. - Aggressive play on both sides of the ball stretched the Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team’s winning streak to four games with a four-set victory over Tennessee State, on Senior Day, Saturday afternoon at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels won by scores of 23-25, 25-16, 25-13 and 25-16.
After dropping a marathon of a first set that featured 11 tie scores and five lead changes, 25-23, EKU rallied to take the final three sets in convincing fashion. The second frame became a set of runs as Eastern Kentucky notched four unanswered points that began on a block from senior Ciera Koons and ended on a kill from Kaylin Johnson to pull ahead three, 10-7, and force a Tennessee State timeout. Rachel Henderson and Sydney Swann came up with kills as the Tigers responded with a 5-0 run of their own to take the lead, 12-10. The Colonels created two more 6-0 runs down the stretch to seal the set, 25-16.
Eastern Kentucky came out of the locker room hot to open the third stanza, outscoring TSU 14-3. The Colonels held the Tigers to just 10 more points the rest of the set. Back-to-back Tennessee State attack errors ended the set in favor of Eastern, 25-13.
In the final set TSU found itself in a 15-9 hole, but after an EKU attack error the Tigers went on to take the next three points to draw within two, 15-13. Senior Celina Sanks answered with a putaway from Cassie Knutson followed by kills from Johnson and two from Lauren Kolenik to give the Colonels a 21-13 advantage. Tennessee State went on to score three more times, but the lead proved insurmountable as Knutson came up with back-to-back kills to end the match, 25-16.
Tennessee State came into the matchup hitting .163 on the year, but Eastern Kentucky held the Tigers to a .032 percentage after forcing two negative sets and a final set of .000.
The Colonels out-blocked TSU 10-2, carried by Johnson and Koons who chipped in five apiece.
Kolenik had a career day matching her high in blocks (4) and leading all players with a career-high 14 kills.
Knutson contributed her second triple-double of the weekend and fourth of the year with 11 kills, 22 assists and 10 digs while Sanks provided another double-double with 10 kills and 13 digs.
Chloe Rojas led all players with 28 digs.
Samantha Beltran poured in a 15 assist, 14 dig double-double for the Tigers while Katora Roberts led TSU in putaways with eight.
The win improves the Colonels to 11-15 (9-3 Ohio Valley Conference) while the Tigers fall to 6-20 (2-10 OVC).
AUSTIN PEAY 3, SIUE 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team rallied from a two-set deficit to win a five-set (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-8) Ohio Valley Conference decision against SIUE, Saturday afternoon at the Vadalabene Center.
Austin Peay (23-4, 11-1 OVC) dropped the first two sets of a match for only the fourth time this season and had fallen into a 12-7 deficit in the third set. But the Govs rallied to tie the set 17-17 and then scored eight of the final 11 points to claim extend the match. From there, Austin Peay would not trail again, winning both the fourth and fifth sets in wire-to-wire fashion.
SIUE (19-5, 9-3 OVC) used a hot offensive run to build its 2-0 lead. The Cougars opened with 15 kills and a .256 attack percentage to win the first set by a narrow margin. SIUE pushed its offense further in the second set with 17 kills and a .350 attack percentage, but again needed a late burst to claim the win. However, SIUE would record only 23 kills after taking a 12-7 lead in the third.
Senior Ashley Slay led the Govs with 20 kills, her fourth 20-kill performance this season and first in OVC play. She did it while also posting a .421 attack percentage along with three blocks and a service ace. Redshirt junior Christina White added 11 kills while sophomore Jenna Panning chipped in her second 10-kill effort this season.
Ashley Witt and Jackie Scott each had 15 kills to lead the SIUE offense.
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois volleyball closed out their season at home in a senior day match-up against OVC opponent Murray State Saturday afternoon. The Panthers fell to the Racers losing in four sets (27-25, 20-25, 17-25 and 21-25).
The first set was well balanced with both teams trading points throughout the set. The set combined for a total seven ties and three lead changes. Leading the Panther offensive charge was Allie Hueston who hit for a team-high seven kills in the set. The Panthers were able to hold of the Racers and grab the set 27-25.
Murray State would fire back with a 9-0 run to kick off the set started from one of Becca Fernandez’s three service aces in the set. EIU would attempt the comeback with the help of Hueston and Maria Brown who led the Panther attack with four kills each. The Racers were able to hold of the Panthers and captured the second set 25-20.
The Racers would be able to hold of the Panthers capturing the third and fourth sets to secure the victory. The fourth set included the most lead changes of the match with six. Leading the Racers offense for the afternoon was Giustino who tallied a team-high 18 kills.
Leading EIU on the day in kills was Maria Brown with 19 kills. Taylor Smith led the Panthers in assists with 25. Anne Hughes led the Panthers defense with a team high 29 digs, and Hueston led with eight blocks.