SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 3, SIUE 2 (26-24, 20-25, 26-24, 18-25, 15-13)
@Southeast Missouri 3, Jacksonville State 0 (25-14, 25-22, 25-20)
@Tennessee State 3, Morehead State 1 (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22)
@Austin Peay 3, Eastern Illinois 1 (16-25, 25-10, 31-29, 25-18)
@Belmont 3, Eastern Kentucky 2 (18-25, 25-21, 18-25, 25-22, 15-12)
MURRAY STATE 3, SIUE 2
MURRAY, Ky. -The Murray State volleyball team started Ohio Valley Conference play with back-to-back wins when they outlasted SIUE 3-2 Saturday afternoon at Racer Arena in Murray, Ky.
With the successful weekend, the Racers have also extended their home court win streak to 27 straight. This impressive streak dates back to 2014.
These young Racers (10-4, 2-0 OVC) showed tremendous grit in a 3-1 win Friday over Eastern Illinois and today’s five-set victory over the Cougars (10-4, 0-2 OVC).
The first set was tied 4-4, when the Racers won 6-of-7 points in one stretch to take a 12-6 lead. They went on to win it 26-24. The Racers fell behind 17-9 in the second set and never got any closer than five points as SIUE won the 25-20. The third set saw MSU lead most of the way until SIUE scored four-straight points for a 20-17 advantage, but MSU rallied for a 26-24 win. SIUE won the fourth set 25-18 and set up the drama for the fifth set.
Back to back kills by Rachel Giustino put MSU in front 8-7 and then Olivia Chatman slammed one and the lead was three. The Racers finally broke free when SIUE was long on an attack and a Giustino hit one of her 20 kills in on the day. Match point was decided off of Becca Fernandez’s serve that SIUE hit out of bounds.
Giustino led the way with 20 kills in 65 chances, while Dacia Brown added 12 in 30 attempts. Giustino and Fernandez led the team with 13 and 14 digs.
The Racers were out-hit by SIUE .217 to .183, but still managed to find a way for a win.
Ashley Witt led the Cougars in kills with 17 followed by 16 from middle blocker Taylor Joens.
SIUE's defense collected 80 digs, including a career-high 32 from libero Katie Shashack.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Redshirt junior Christina White and senior Ashley Slay combined for 35 kills to lead Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team in a four-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (16-25, 25-10, 31-29, 25-18) against Eastern Illinois, Saturday afternoon at the Dunn Center.
With the win, Austin Peay (13-2, 2-0 OVC) is out to its best 15-match start in program history. It also was the Govs seventh consecutive victory as they opened OVC play with a 2-0 mark before playing the next four OVC matches on the road.
After a slow start cost if the first set, Austin Peay (13-2) roared back with a dominant second set win to level the match. The Governors then powered their way to a 31-29 overtime win in the third set on the back of 24 kills with White and junior Cecily Gable each providing seven kills. Austin Peay pulled away in the fourth set to claim the win.
White led the Govs with an 18-kill outing, tying her season best, and a .261 attack percentage. Slay chipped in 17 kills and a team-best four blocks while hitting .405. Kaylee Taff and Cecily Gable each added 10 kills as Austin Peay outhit Eastern Illinois 66-48 in kills.
Eastern Illinois (6-8, 0-2 OVC) could not follow up its dominant first-set win as it suffered its second straight loss to open OVC play. Laurel Bailey had 12 kills to lead Eastern Illinois, Maria Brown finished with 10 kills.
BELMONT 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont (7-6, 2-0 OVC) held off Eastern Kentucky (-14, 1-1 OVC), 3-2, to improve to 2-0 in the early OVC season. This marks the third consecutive season BU has opened conference play sweeping the weekend's matches.
The first frame opened with an intense back and forth effort by both teams before EKU pulled ahead, 20-14 and did not look back. Closing the set with a 3-0 run, the Colonels took set one, 25-18. The Bruins came out hot to start the second set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead following kills by graduate student Jessica Vestal (Concord, Calif.) and seniors Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) and Brie Lewis (Stilwell, Kan.). Eastern Kentucky rallied to knot the set, 10-10, but BU regrouped and was able to build a small point differential.
Back-to-back blocks by Person and freshman Mackenzie LePage (Franklin, Tenn.) lifted BU to a 13-11 advantage. The Bruins kept pushing and pulled ahead 16-12, forcing the Eastern Kentucky bench to burn a timeout. BU maintained its three-point differential down the stretch, despite another called EKU timeout. The Bruins were first to reach 20 points and took advantage of Colonel attack errors to continue to keep distance between the teams. EKU closed the gap to two points, 23-21, but a kill by senior Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) and Colonel attacking errors handed BU the set, 25-21.
EKU battled back to take the third stanza in much of the same manner as the first. Capitalizing on an 8-1 run, the Colonels jumped ahead, 16-9. Belmont was able to narrow the gap to two points, 17-15, with a resounding kill by Vestal. However, fueled by a 7-2 run, Eastern Kentucky was able to snatch the third set, 25-18.
A frenzied back and forth effort marked the start of the crucial fourth stanza. Eastern Kentucky was able to use a rally to build a 14-11 lead, pushing Belmont to call a timeout. Immediately after the brief break, it was BU's turn to create a rally of its own. Lifted by a 5-0 run, the Bruins regained the lead, 17-14, and a stunned Colonel bench called timeout after a big kill by Lewis. The hits kept coming as BU intensified its attack and soon was ahead 21-18, forcing the Colonels to call their final timeout of the set. The break did little slow Belmont's momentum down the stretch as it took the set, 25-22, behind a kill by Person.
In the fifth and deciding set, a service ace and an attack error put the Colonels ahead by one early, 4-3, but the Bruins hustled to bounce back. Belmont fell behind 7-5 and called timeout to settle down in the do-or-die situation. EKU was the first to eight points but Belmont used a kill by Person after the switch to make it a one-point set, 8-7. Suddenly, the Bruins exploded behind an 8-0 run to put match point in their sights, leading 14-8. The Colonels did not go away easy, narrowing the point differential to just two points, 14-12, with the help of Belmont attack errors. However, it would be a kill down the middle by Vestal that would seal the deal for BU to win the set, 15-12, and the match.
A trio of Bruins reached double digits in kills, led by Person, who recorded a match-high 17. She was followed by junior Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.) and Lewis, who added 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Freshman Akia Warrior (Fort Worth, Texas) and junior Maggie Mullins (Nashville, Tenn.) contributed 22 and 19 assists, respectively. Senior Ellie Ivancich (Naperville, Ill.) and Vestal led the defensive effort with 14 and 12 digs, respectively. LePage was near impossible to stop at the net, collecting a match and career-high eight block assists.
Freshman Lauren Kolenik had a career day with 13 kills, more than doubling her previous high of six, coupled with two blocks to lead the Eastern Kentucky. Rachel Woody finished the match with her first triple-double of the season with 21 assists, 10 kills and 11 digs.Celina Sanks was also in double-figures with 10 kills. Maria Ferragonio notched a season-high 17 assists and Chloe Rojas tallied 26 digs. Clairissa Hankinson finished with a season-high seven kills.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (6-10, 1-1) swept Jacksonville State (14-6, 1-1) Saturday afternoon at the Houck Field House for the Redhawks first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season.
The victory also extended SEMO's home winning streak to 5-0 and halted the team's losing skid at eight matches.
Southeast utilized a balanced attack to power past the Gamecocks in straight sets, 25-14, 25-22, 25-20.
Krista Berns led the SEMO offense with nine kills and a season-high hitting percentage of .727. Haley Bilbruck, Nzingha Clarke and Krissa Gearring all added eight kills each and Madara Bajare and Mikayla Kuhlmann chipped in seven each.
Bilbruck hit a season-best clip of .538 and Bajare swung .429 to tie her season-high.
Southeast jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match courtesy of a 25-14 first set win. The Redhawks hit a match-best .500 in the opening set and Berns and Kuhlmann each had four kills. Berns hit a perfect 1.000 hitting mark in the first set.
SEMO jumped out to a 5-0 lead from kills by Berns, Bilbruck and Kuhlmann along with a Gearring ace prompting a Gamecocks timeout. Gearring finished the match with a season-best four service aces.
Southeast never trailed in the opening set and cruised to a 25-14 set win.
The second and third sets were tighter contests.
Down 14-10 in the second frame, SEMO went on an 8-1 run to take an 18-15 edge in the set. Clarke hit two of her four second set kills and added two blocks with Gearring to cut Jacksonville's lead to 14-13 and force a Gamecocks timeout.
JSU would then rally off four straight points to reclaim the lead, 22-21, before the Redhawks closed the set with four unanswered points punctuated by a Bilbruck and Clarke block. Clarke finished the contest with four total blocks.
SEMO won the match with a 25-20 third set win. Bajare had five kills in the final set alone and hit three of them down the stretch to make the score 21-17. Gearring and Berns added back-to-back kills to grow the lead to 23-19 before a Gamecocks attack error and kill by Bilbruck ended the set.
SEMO setter Keegan Fornoff dished out 25 assists and Allie Henkelman added 17.
Defensively, libero Ally Dion led the Redhawks with 13 digs and Gearring added nine.
Senior Allyson Zuhlke finished with 17 kills as the lone Gamecock in double figures. Mackenzie Rombach hit .444 with nine kills and pitched in a block from the middle. As the Gamecocks altered their lineup looking for answers, nine players recorded at least one dig led by setter Jennifer Hart with 11. Hannah Kirk tallied six digs, just ahead of Ashley Clingan and Rachel Perucki with five apiece. Kim Krutsinger and Zuhlke each had three blocks to lead the team.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Tigers volleyball team continued conference play against the Morehead State Eagles in Kean Hall, defeating the Eagles 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-22).
The match proved to be a record-breaking match for two of the Tigers. Kylie Hayes recorded her career-high in digs with 16. Julia Pierson surpassed her season-high in kills with 21 and career-high in digs with 16. Samantha Beltran facilitated the offense with 47 assists. Cherlie Adorno DeJesus led the defense with 24 digs.
In a set that would take the Tigers through a point-by-point battle, TSU came out with 13 kills, 17 digs and three huge blocks. Tigers outworked Eagles and took set one, 25-20.
In the second back-and-forth set, the Tigers continued its lead against the Eagles for much of the set only allowing Morehead State to take the lead once. Tiger defense held the Eagles to a .173 hitting percentage. Tigers won set two, 25-19.
The Tigers continued to lead in every category during set three. Pierson continued to lead in kills producing a .395 hitting percentage. TSU allowed the Eagles to go on multiple three-point runs, but continued to hold them to a .173 hitting percentage. The Big Blue offense forced 21 digs out of the Eagles, while still putting down 13 kills in the third set. In the final points, the Eagles took the lead and forced set four.
In the final set of the match, the Tigers pushed to win the match. TSU posted two blocks, 18 digs, 12 kills, and a service ace to push the Eagles out of competition. Morehead State’s .109 hitting percentage could not overpower the Tiger defense, and the Tigers took the set, 25-22.
Morehead State sophomore libero Danielle McCarson had a season-best 22 digs, and freshman setter Chandler Clark and outside hitter Lauren Rokey posted double-doubles. McCarson was part of the Eagles' back line that scooped up 67 digs. The host team had 78 digs as the teams combined for 303 total attacks. Clark registered 33 assists and had 14 digs, while Rokey landed 12 winners on offense and secured 12 digs on defense.
Morehead State junior middle Maddie Fella was nearly perfect on offense with 10 kills and just one mistake for a .529 efficiency. Senior Alli Evans was relied upon heavily today with a season-high 10 kills on 36 swings.