FRIDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee Tech 3, @Tennessee State 2 (25-23, 19-25, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12)
@Belmont 3, Jacksonville State 1 (25-19, 20-25, 25-18, 25-21)
SIUE 3, @Southeast Missouri 2 (25-18, 17-25, 11-25, 25-19, 15-9)
Eastern Illinois 3, @UT Martin 1 (20-25, 25-13, 25-21, 25-20)
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois volleyball traveled to Tennessee to face OVC opponent UT Martin Friday evening. The Panthers beat the Skyhawks winning a four-set match (20-25, 25-13, 25-21, and 25-20).
The Skyhawks came out strong in the first set against the Panthers taking the set 25-20. UT Martin was able to pull away in the set when they went on a 4-0 run ignited from a Jemima Idemudia kill. The Panthers would fight back with the help of Taylor Smith who totaled five of her nine kills but would fall short in the set.
The second set was all about Eastern Illinois as they grabbed the set 25-13. The Panthers jumped out to an early 7-0 run off a Maria Brown kill. Browns kill ended up being the difference maker in the set as EIU was able to grab the lead from UT Martin and never look back. The second set featured a low, one tie and one lead change. EIU hit for their highest average of the match hitting .375 in the set.
The third set featured more balance play as both teams tied for a total seven times. EIU was able to hold off UT Martin to win the set 25-21. Leading the charge defensively for the Panthers was Brown who totaled six of her twelve digs.
EIU would close out the match strong in the fourth set defeating UT Martin 25-20. The Panthers jumped out to a quick 3-0 run kicked off from a Rachel Noffsinger. EIU would hop onto a 4-0 run off a Kenzie Hinshaw service error right after. Leading the charge for the Panthers in the fourth set was Allie Hueston who tallied three kills. Abby Knight led the Panther defense claiming four blocks.
Smith claimed her NCAA leading eighth triple-double of the season finishing with 12 kills, 20 assists, and 10 digs. Bailey led Panthers totaling 12 kills in the match, and Gina Furlin helped offensively collecting 20 assists. Defensively leading the Panthers was Hueston who led the Panthers with seven blocks.
Macy Reigelsperger and Jemima Idemudia led the Skyhawks with 13 kills each while Brooke Gyori had a team-high 19 digs.
SIUE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - SIUE volleyball came from a set down Friday against Southeast Missouri to earn its third straight victory in a five-set thriller at Houck Field House.
The Cougars improved to 22-5 overall and 12-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 25-18, 17-25, 11-25, 25-19, 15-9 win. Southeast Missouri dropped to 10-19 overall and 5-10 in the OVC
Taylor Joens recorded five of her team-high 15 kills in the fifth set. She started the set with three kills and a block that gave SIUE a 5-0 lead in the fifth set.
Southeast Missouri would battle back to come within 10-9 but never took the lead from the Cougars in the deciding set. SIUE would score the final five points of the fifth set, including two kills by Jackie Scott, one from Joens and a service ace by Katie Shashack.
As strong as SIUE was in the opening set, Southeast Missouri pushed back in sets two and three. Paulus said she was pleased with how the team responded heading into set four.
Paulus said the Cougars gained a big lift off the bench from freshman Gabby Wimes, who finished with a season-high six kills and one block.
Krissa Gearring led SEMO with 15 kills and 15 digs.
The Cougars' defense had four players in double figures digs with 19 from Shashack, 14 from Scott and 10 each from Jordyn Klein and Mallory Nicholson.
BELMONT 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont Volleyball dug in its collective heels to pull out a total team effort win to start Senior Weekend on Friday evening. The Bruins (13-14, 8-7 OVC) battled back a rising Jacksonville State (22-12, 8-7 OVC), 3-1, in the Curb Event Center to keep their OVC Tournament hopes alive.
BU jumped out to an early 5-1 lead before the Gamecocks were able to get settled into the opening set.
Belmont continued to roll to a six-point advantage, 11-5, forcing the Gamecocks to call timeout. JSU answered back with a 3-0 run of its own to quickly trim the deficit but senior Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.), who was honored pre-match with a ball commemorating her becoming Belmont's all-time leader in kills, delivered a booming kill down the sideline to put BU back ahead comfortably. Jacksonville State surged again, inching to within three points 13-10 but the Bruins used a 3-0 flurry to expand their lead and JSU was forced to burn its second timeout of the set. The Gamecocks used its own 3-0 to close the scoring gap to four, 18-14 but a pair of kills by junior Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.) lifted Belmont over the 20-point plateau. Person closed the set for BU with a trio of kills to secure the 25-19 win.
The teams traded points early in the second stanza, falling into four ties before a 4-0 run put Belmont ahead, 11-8. JSU called its first timeout in hopes of cooling the hot Bruins. After the brief break, the Gamecocks were able to reverse their fortunes, rolling off their own 4-0 flurry. This time, it would be BU to call timeout as JSU extended its run to 5-0 before the Bruins clawed back and knotted the set, 13-13. A pair of kills by junior Maggie Mullins (Nashville, Tenn.) looked to spark the team through the midpoint, knotting the score 14-14. However, Belmont fell behind once again, this time for good. Even with a late timeout called, the Bruins were only able to narrow the score to four as Jacksonville State took the set, 25-20.
After intermission, another back and forth battle marked the early points of the third frame. The teams would be tied 10 times before the Bruins broke the stalemate with a 4-0 run thanks to back-to-back kills by senior Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) that put them ahead, 14-12. JSU was forced to call its first timeout. Belmont kept piling on the points to the tune of an eventual 7-0 run that put it ahead, 17-12. A stunned JSU bench called timeout and it allowed them to put together a brief rally to close the gap to three points, 18-15. BU called its first timeout of the frame and Nichols came out swinging, to open up a 3-0 run to take a 21-15 lead. Belmont would only allow the Gamecocks to add three more points en route to its 25-18 win.
The Gamecocks opened the fourth set with a 3-0 run before the Bruins got a foothold back in the set. BU went on to force four scoring stalemates before JSU slowly built a four-point lead, 15-11, However, Belmont would made a run of its own to once again knot the score, this time at 15-15, courtesy of kills by graduate student Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.), Nichols, Person, and senior Emma Price (Fort Mill, S.C.). All told, Belmont rolled off six consecutive points to take a 17-15 lead but the Gamecocks fired back with a 3-0 run to briefly take the lead once again, 18-17. Another 4-0 run lifted Belmont over the 20-point threshold and it never looked back. The Bruins would only allow JSU to add three more points as they streaked toward the 25-21 win with kills raining down from Lewis and Person.
Person led all attackers with a season-high 24 kills and 10 digs to log the lone double-double of the contest. Nichols finished with 11 kills. Price tallied 44 assists to the entire JSU team tally of 41 while classmate Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) notched a match-high 23 digs.
Lewis rang up a new career-high in block assists, tallying a match-high nine.
Jacksonville State's Allyson Zuhlke led the team with 10 kills.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech picked up a road win against Tennessee State on Friday night. The Golden Eagles defeated the Tigers in five sets. Scores were 25-23, 19-25, 29-27, 24-26, 15-12.
Tennessee Tech was led by Rachel Thomas and K'Vonna Johnson with 13 kills each. Shealene Little added 10 kills. Kirsten Brugere notched a team-best 25 digs while Abigail Duncan had 16 digs and Lexi Kingree added 11. Kingree had 43 assists for the double-double.
Tennessee State's Julia Pierson had a match-high 21 digs while Cherlie Adorno-DeJesus led all players with 32 digs.