FRIDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 3, Troy 0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-23)
UT Martin 3, Nicholls State 0 (25-19, 25-28, 25-22)
@Toledo 3,
Tennessee Tech 0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-22)
Washington State 3,
Tennessee State 0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-20)
Wright State 3,
Southeast Missouri 0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-14)
Winthrop 3,
Jacksonville State 2 (25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12)
Morehead State 3, Norfolk State 0 (25-11, 25-22, 25-22)
Austin Peay 3, South Florida 1 (21-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-23)
Youngstown State 3,
Tennessee Tech 0 (25-15, 25-20, 25-17)
Cleveland State 3,
Eastern Kentucky 1 (25-18, 25-15, 21-25, 25-23)
Eastern Michigan 3,
Southeast Missouri 0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-22)
@SIUE 3, Seattle 1 (25-14, 25-27, 25-22, 25-21)
@The Citadel 3,
Jacksonville State 1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22)
UT Martin 3, ULM 2 (24-26, 17-25, 25-21, 25-8, 16-14)
@Alabama 3,
Murray State 1 (25-21, 25-15, 22-25, 25-15)
WASHINGTON STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tennessee State kicked off day one at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational with a 3-0 loss to Washington State (25-18, 25-15, 25-17).
The Tigers began every set with all-out effort recording most of their 32 points in the first half of each of the three sets. Rallies were hard-fought and intense with defenders all over the court.
The Tiger offense versus Washington State was aggressive with every player going up for the kill whether in the front or backcourt. Freshman middle blocker Maya Evans got to play alongside her sister, Megan Evans, who recorded her first kill as a Tiger.
Julia Pierson recorded the most points for the Tigers (10.5) and led the team in kills (9). Freshman Maya Evans led the team in blocks (5) and tied for first in second in kills (4).
First Set: The first five points of the match came from errors on both sides of the court. The remainder of the set was back-and-forth between the Tigers and Cougars. Julia Pierson led the team with four kills, while Maya Evans registered a solo block against Washington State’s Alexis Dirige. With an ace and an attack error, the Cougars took the first set, 25-18.
Second Set: Rachel Henderson scored the first two points of the set eventually leading the Tigers to a 5-1 lead over Washington State. Middle blocker Maya Evans came in for the Tigers and put down two kills, two assisted blocks and a solo block for the Big Blue. Tigers drop set two, 25-15.
Third Set: Tigers started off set three down 8-1. Kylie Hayes records the sole service ace of the set, and Cherlie Adorno DeJesus records the set-high in digs (7). Despite such efforts, TSU could no combat the .353 hitting percentage and three blocks of the Cougars. Washington State takes set three 25-17.
The Tigers continue play in the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. where they play against the Fighting Illini, followed by the Missouri State Bears at 7:30 p.m.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, NORFOLK STATE 0
LORETTA, Pa. - Morehead State Volleyball secured its seventh victory and its sixth 3-0 win in 2017 by knocking off Norfolk State 25-11, 25-22, 25-22 in the opening match of the Red-Flash Classic at St. Francis (Pa.) Friday.
The Eagles are now 7-4 and have swept all four teams they have played from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
A strong start set the tone as the Eagles landed 11 kills and committed just one error (.400 attack percentage) in the opening set. Morehead State eventually cooled down to a .261 efficiency for the match but held the Spartans to just a .074 effort on offense.
Freshman outside hitter Lauren Rokey again led the way, putting down 10 winners and also coming up with seven digs. Fellow freshman Olivia Lohmeier, a middle/right-side hitter who leads the Ohio Valley Conference in hitting percentage, kept her numbers intact with seven kills and zero errors for a team-best .583 attack total.
MSU's service game also shined with seven aces, including three by Rokey. On the defensive end of things, junior middle Jessie Wachtman led the way up front with four blocks. Sophomore libero Danielle McCarson totaled 11 of the Eagles' 37 digs. NSU did hold the edge on the back row with 42 digs.
The Eagles broke open a 6-3 match in the opening set with a 9-1 run, as Rokey opened it with a kill and junior setter Jordan Jones capped it with a kill.
The second set turned in Morehead State's favor after it found itself down 10-7. Six straight points gave the Eagles a 13-10 lead, including four Spartan attack errors. NSU did rally and led twice late, but the Eagles scored five of the last six to win it. McCarson had a pair of aces in the final scoring flurry.
Set three was similar to its predecessor, and again it took a late rally for the Eagles to secure the sweep. Morehead State scored five of the final six points. Lohmeier, Rokey and Jones landed winners to clinch the win.
The Eagles have a pair of matches Saturday in Pennsylvania. They'll face Bucknell at 11:30 a.m. ET and the host Red Flash at 4 p.m.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, SOUTH FLORIDA 1
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Senior Ashley Slay powered her way to a 19-kill performance, leading Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team to a four-set victory (21-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-23) against South Florida, Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Dolphin Invitational at UNF Arena.
Austin Peay (9-2) had to recover from a slow start to the match which allowed USF to play a nip-and-tuck first-set affair. Late in the first, the Governors had to recover from a three-point deficit to tie the set at 20-20. However, the Bulls did not allow the Govs to take the lead and scored four of the final five points to grab a 25-21 win.
The Governors roared back in the second set racing out to a 17-7 lead with Slay providing five kills in the opening burst. Austin Peay traded points with USF the rest of the way en route to leveling the match with a 25-16 win.
Both teams endured a sloppy outing in the third set with USF committing eight attack errors to the Governors 11 miscues. The Bulls faced a quintuple set point with the Govs up 24-19 in the third, but fought all the way back with a kill, an ace, a block and two APSU errors. Redshirt junior Christina White ended the USF five-point burst with a kill and the Bulls attack sailed their final attack long to give the Govs a 26-24 win.
Austin Peay controlled the bulk of the fourth set and reached a familiar spot in the proceedings with quadruple match point, 24-20. Again, South Florida began fighting back with a pair of kills and an APSU attack error closing the deficit to one point, 24-23. This time junior Kaylee Taff ended the Bulls charge with a kill to hand the Govs the match.
Slay’s 19 kills and .405 attack percentage paced the Govs in a 60-kill outing and she did not commit an attack error until midway through the third set, recording 15 kills in that stretch. White added 13 kills and freshman Brooke Moore chipped in 12 kills.
Julita Kurdziuk had 13 kills to lead USF, which was held to 45 kills in the loss. The Bulls did their damage at the net, posting a 13-6 advantage against APSU. Clara Payne led the USF defense with eight blocks.
Austin Peay resumes play in the Dolphin Invitational when it meets Presbyterian at 9 a.m. (CT), Saturday.
CLEVELAND STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Despite a late run to take the third set and nearly clinch the fourth the Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team fell to Cleveland State University, 1-3, to open the Panther Challenge hosted by the University of Pittsburgh on Friday.
EKU fell by scores of 18-25, 15-25, 25-21 and 23-25.
After dropping the first two sets the Colonels were down 7-3 to begin the third but a short EKU rally quickly tied the match at 7-7. A couple of points later, 9-9, CSU committed a plague of errors to put Eastern Kentucky on top, 16-10.
A kill from Sanks and a service ace from libero Chloe Rojas clinched the set for EKU, keeping them alive and moving the score to 2-1.
In the fourth set the teams went point-for-point with the largest lead belonging to the Colonels at the 14-10 mark. But, a 5-0 Viking run gave the squad a 15-14 advantage. The teams again exchanged points for the remainder of the set, but Cleveland State came out on top, 25-23.
Nikki Drost led the Colonels with 11 kills and a stellar .323 hitting percentage, Sanks came up with 10. Rachel Woody notched a double-double in the loss with 28 assists and 11 digs.
Alexis Middlebrooks led the charge for the Vikings with 14 kills, hitting .407.
The loss moves EKU to 2-10 on the season while Cleveland State improves to 6-3.
The Colonels will play two tomorrow starting at 10 a.m. against the University of Pittsburgh and again at 5 p.m. against the University of California Santa Barbara.
SIUE 3, SEATTLE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE improved to 8-2 Friday with a four-set win over Seattle on the opening day of the Cougar Invite at the Vadalabene Center.
The Cougars bested the Redhawks 25-14, 27-25, 22-25, 25-21. Seattle fell to 4-8 after defeating Montana in the tournament opener earlier in the day.
SIUE has two more matches in the Cougar Invite before thinking about the Ohio Valley Conference season. The Cougars face Montana at 11 a.m. and UIC at 6 p.m.
Three SIUE players finished in double figures in kills led by 12 from Emily Harrison. Ashley Witt and Taylor Joens added 11 and 10, respectively. The Cougars hit .285 as a team.
Joens, who led all players with nine blocks, credited the Cougars' defense.
Joens hit .435 for the match with no errors on 23 attacks. Harrison hit .400 with just two errors in 25 attacks. Witt hit .276 with three errors in 29 attacks.
The hitters' strength was anchored by the play of the Cougar defense.
Katie Shashack led the Cougars with a season-high 21 digs. Samantha Knight added a double-double with 13 digs and 26 assists. Jackie Scott recorded 12 digs and missed a double-double by a single kill.
SIUE's defense also was strong at the net with 13 blocks, which is one shy of the season high of 14 against Fort Wayne.
The Cougars stepped up early, winning the first two sets by collecting 29 kills with just three errors. After Seattle evened play with a set three win, Joens helped put the match away with SIUE's final two kills in set four.
Katarina Glavinic led the Redhawks with 12 kills.
WRIGHT STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0; EASTERN MICHIGAN 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CHICAGO, Ill. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (5-8) lost both of their Chicago State Invitational matches in three sets on Friday at the Jacoby D. Dickens Center.
The Redhawks fell to Wright State in three sets on Friday morning and then lost a tight match to Eastern Michigan also in three in their afternoon set. The losses extended SEMO's losing streak to six matches.
Wright State 3, Southeast Missouri State 0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-14)
Wright State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match after they cruised through the opening set, 25-13.
Southeast hit a match-best .297 in the second set when they recorded 13 kills. Down 21-11 in the set, SEMO went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit after taking their timeout.
Kills from Krista Berns, Krissa Gearring, a service ace from Ally Dion along with an attack error by Wright State brought the score to 21-16 prompting a Raiders timeout. Madara Bajare would add two kills but it wouldn't be enough as Wright State took the set, 25-21.
The Raiders closed out the match in the third set, 25-14.
Gearring led the Redhawks offense with seven kills and Haley Bilbruck chipped in five.
Defensively, Gearring, Clarke (five kills) and Bajare each recorded three blocks. Libero Emily Boggetto had 18 digs.
Setter Keegan Fornoff notched 14 assists and Allie Henkelman added 10.
Eastern Michigan 3, Southeast Missouri State 0 (28-26, 25-23, 25-22)
In the afternoon tilt, Southeast played a tough back and forth match with Eastern Michigan. The opening set needed extra frames and the second set featured 13 ties.
SEMO is back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. against tournament host, Chicago State.
WINTHROP 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 2; THE CITADEL 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The opening day of the Bulldog Invitational was unkind to the Jacksonville State volleyball team as the Gamecocks fell victim to Winthrop and The Citadel on Friday inside the McAlister Field House on the campus of The Citadel.
Career highs in kills from junior Mackenzie Rombach (17) and freshman Madison Cooler (12), along with a season-best 15-kill performance from Charis Ludtke weren't enough as the Gamecocks were edged by a scrappy Winthrop squad in a five-set thriller.
The Gamecocks started fast in the opening set jumping out to a 4-0 advantage, but Winthrop slowly pulled its way back to a 9-9 tie, and later began to expand its lead at 17-14 before taking the first, 25-21. JSU bounced back to win a close second set, 25-22, and then pulled away late in the third for the 25-19 victory.
The fourth frame went back-and-forth. JSU took three straight points to break a 7-7 tie, but the Eagles quickly fought back and tied the set at 15-15. Jax State had its chance to clinch the match with a late 23-22 lead, but Winthrop fought hard for the final three points to force a decisive fifth game.
In the fifth, JSU won the first point but then had to chase down WU the remainder of the game. The Eagles led 8-4 at the change and reached match point with a 14-10 lead. JSU fought off two match points before falling, 15-12.
Jennifer Hart dished 46 assists in the afternoon setback, while Hannah Kirk led the way with 21 digs on defense.
Against tournament host The Citadel Friday night, the Gamecocks found themselves in just as tight of a contest as in the morning.
The two squads exchanged 25-23 sets to begin with as the Bulldogs winning the first, followed by JSU taking the second. In the third, a 10-2 run for the home team propelled them ahead of JSU, 18-14, and held on for the two sets to one lead. JSU trailed again late in the fourth, 15-10, but rallied to even the score at 21. Unfortunately, the comeback could not be completed as the Gamecocks fell 25-22.
JSU returns to action against Charleston Southern at 11:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, before wrapping up the Bulldog Invitational with a 4:30 match with local foe, Alabama A&M.
MURRAY STATE 3, TROY 0; ALABAMA 3, MURRAY STATE
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The Murray State volleyball team opened the Crimson-White Tournament at Alabama with a sweep over Troy Friday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. Set scores went 25-18, 25-18 and 25-23. The Racers then closed the day with a four-set loss to the host-Crimson Tide. Set scores against Alabama went 21-25, 15-25, 25-22 and 15-25.
In the win against the Trojans (4-8), MSU was extremely balanced offensively as Dacia Brown, Rachel Giustino and Megan Lindsay all recorded 10 kills each to lead the way. Lindsay hit a match-high .643 in the win while Giustino hit at a .350 clip. Olivia Chatman and Rachel Holthaus added seven and six kills, respectively in the win.
The Racers (7-4) hit .347 as a team in the victory and held Troy to a .222 team hitting percentage. Courtney Radle led the way at setter with 37 assists against the Trojans while Alex Kaufmann led the way in the back row with 12 digs from her libero spot.
Against Alabama (10-2), Giustino led MSU with 16 kills and also tied for the team lead with 15 digs. Brown added 12 kills in the loss, while Chatman and Holthaus chipped in with seven each in the night cap. Callie Anderton led MSU with 29 assists against Alabama and Radle had 18.
Defensively, Becca Fernandez tallied 15 digs in the back row while Kaufmann had 14 against the Crimson Tide. Giustino and Holthuas each had a pair of block assists in the match to lead the way in that department. However, Alabama out-blocked the Racers 14-3 in the match.
MSU closes the weekend Saturday in an 11 a.m., match against Southern.
TOLEDO 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0; YOUNGSTOWN STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
TOLEDO, Ohio - Tech continued its run of Ohio tournaments Friday with a double-header to start the Blue/Gold Invitational.
The Golden Eagles fell to host Toledo 23-25, 18-25 and 20-25, then followed with a loss to Youngstown State 15-25, 20-25 and 17-25.
Tech (2-9) began its day with Toledo (5-6), falling behind 8-1 after an 8-0 Rockets run. The Golden Eagles battled back to cut the deficit to 11-8, but the Rockets again pulled ahead 18-12 for a six-point difference. A 6-1 run by Tech got the Golden Eagles within one point, but that was as close as they could get. The Rockets would take the first set 25-23.
Tech took a 4-2 lead to open the second set, but two-straight attack errors and a Toledo kill gave the Rockets the 5-4 lead. Toledo would hold its lead to win the second set 25-18.
The Golden Eagles held on late in the third set for an 19-18 advantage, but Toledo put up two points before a Tech timeout. A 5-1 run by the Rockets gave them the third set at 25-20 and the match.
Tech recorded five team blocks, with Rachel Thomas chipping in one solo and three assists. It also served up six service aces to Toledo’s three, and Allison Morrett and Liz Bossong combined for 28 of Tech’s 63 digs.
Against Youngstown State (6-7), the two teams were tied at 10-10 in the first set before the Penguins went on a 12-1 run to lead 22-11. Youngstown State ended up winning that set 25-15.
Tech jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the second set, but three-straight Penguin points knotted the score at 10-10. The Golden Eagles couldn’t get away from YSU after that, falling in that set 25-20.
In the third set, the score was 8-all before Youngstown State slowly pulled away, winning the set and match at 25-17.
Shealene Little led Tech with 11.5 points against the Penguins and nearly had a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs.
Tech concludes both the Blue/Gold Invitational and non-conference action vs. New Mexico (7-4). First serve is set for Saturday, Sept. 16 at 11 a.m. CT.
UT MARTIN 3, NICHOLLS 0; UT MARTIN 3, ULM 2
MEMPHIS, Tenn. - UT Martin recorded a pair of wins on the the first day Memphis Invitational. The Skyhawks defeated Nicholls (25-19, 25-18, 25-22) and ULM (24-26, 17-25, 25-21, 25-8, 16-14). UT Martin has now won its last three amtches.
Megan Fair led the team with 26 kills on the day while also adding 16 digs. Jemima Idemudia had 23 kills over the two matches.
Kenzie Hinshaw dished out 54 assist to go with 22 digs while Brooke Gyori paced the team with 49 digs over the two matches.
The Skyhawks will close out the Memphis Invitational on Saturday as it faces host Memphis at 10 a.m.
Full recap coming soon.