TUESDAY'S SCORES
Jacksonville State 3, Alcorn State 1 (25-5, 22-25, 25-17, 25-17)
#24 Western Kentucky 3,
@Belmont 0 (25-16, 25-22, 25-19)
@Murray State 3, Southern Illinois 2 (25-17, 28-26, 19-25, 22-25, 16-14)
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, ALCORN STATE 1
LORMAN, Miss. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team dealt the Lady Braves of Alcorn State a 3-1 defeat in a Tuesday matinee inside the Whitney Complex,
Seniors Allyson Zuhlke (13) and Charis Ludtke (11) reached double-digit kills for the visiting Gamecocks. Zuhlke posted a .375 hitting percentage, and added four service aces. Fellow seniors Hannah Kirk and Jennifer Hart recorded double-digits on the opposite side of the net with 14 and 10 digs, respectively.
Junior Mackenzie Rombach had eight kills in three sets of action, while freshman Madison Cooler finished with six kills. Redshirt-sophomore Kim Krutsinger also played sparingly collecting three kills and a couple of blocks.
The Gamecocks ran away with the opening set by a final of 25-5 as the offensive hit .318 to surge out to a 1-0 match lead. JSU saw contributions in the first set from freshman Brooklynne Villano who made her collegiate debut against ASU. The Davie, Fla., native finished with three digs and a kill for the afternoon.
Despite the opening set score, the Lady Braves bounced back to play point-for-point with the Gamecocks in the second. JSU fought back from a 16-19 deficit late, but eventually fell 22-25 in part due to a .050 team hitting mark.
The red and white shored up some things during the intermission break and came out to post consecutive 25-17 scores in sets three and four to take the match, 3-1.
JSU will stay in Mississippi as it prepares to face Jackson State on Wednesday night. The Gamecocks then return home for their first home matches of the season beginning Friday morning in the Jefferson's and State Farm Invitational.
WESTERN KENTUCKY 3, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A valiant comeback effort in the third set was not enough for Belmont Volleyball to take away a match from a nationally ranked opponent in the Curb Event Center. The Bruins (5-3) were held off by No. 24 WKU (6-2), 3-0, on Tuesday evening.
The Hilltoppers outpaced BU early, forcing the Bruins to call timeout, trailing 6-1. Belmont struggled to find an offensive rhythm for most of the stanza and miscues allowed WKU to grow a 16-8 lead. Even after using their second timeout, the Bruins couldn't find an answer down the stretch as Western Kentucky handily took the set, 25-16.
The Bruins had settled into the second frame and battled back early to stay in the set. BU began a rally behind a dual block by senior Brie Lewis (Stillwell, Kan.) and freshman Mackenzie LePage (Franklin, Tenn.) and used kills by Lewis and junior Alexa Nichols (Walton, Ky.) to keep the team within striking distance. The Hilltoppers called their first timeout of the match as the Bruins narrowed the scoring gap, 11-7. BU kept surging and used an ace by senior Emily Richards (Penfield, N.Y.) and a kill by Nichols to make it a one-point set, 14-13. The Bruins kept the set tight through the midsection, pushing the contest into three ties. Suddenly, WKU rolled off five consecutive points to pull away, 22-17. Even with a called timeout, the Bruins were unable to slow the point roll. Belmont closed the gap to three points but was edged, 25-22.
BU opened the third stanza with a long rally to win the first point, eventually going up 3-0 before the Hilltoppers could get into the gear. However, the Bruins remained strong in all elements of the game, holding onto a slim one point advantage for the first half of the set. Belmont held on to its lead until it was forced into a 14-14 stalemate. WKU unleashed a 6-2 flurry to pull ahead, 20-16, pushing BU to call a timeout. The Bruins went down swinging in the waning points, earning points from kills by senior Arianna Person (Lenexa, Kan.) and Lewis but it was not enough as WKU took the final set, 25-19.
Lewis led the Bruins with 11 kills and two service aces while Person led the team with 11 digs. LePage and Person each added seven kills in the effort. Freshman Akia Warrior (Fort Worth, Texas) finished with 27 assists.
Belmont returns to the road this weekend, making a trip to Kansas to participate in the Kansas Invitational. The Bruins will see action against Creighton, Purdue and host-Kansas.
MURRAY STATE 3, SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 2
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball team opened its 2017 home slate in thrilling fashion on Tuesday night at Racer Arena, hanging on to defeat Southern Illinois in five sets. The win gives the Racers 25 consecutive wins at home during the regular season. Set scores went 25-17, 28-26, 19-25, 22-25 and 16-14.
Rachel Giustino led the Racers (6-1) with 23 kills on the night and also notched 15 digs to record her fifth double-double of the season. Dacia Brown added 14 kills while Rachel Holthaus and Megan Lindsay had 12 and eight, respectively. Lindsay led the Racers with a .375 hitting percentage on the night.
Olivia Chatman chipped in with four kills and led MSU with three total blocks. Chatman now moves into 10th-place on the all-time career block assists list in program history with her two on the night. Chatman now has 154 for her career.
Courtney Radle led MSU with 31 assists in the win while Ashley McBee came on in relief in the third set and tallied 27. Defensively in the back row, Becca Fernandez led the Racers as she recorded a career-best 22 digs while Alex Kaufmann added 13. Kaufmann also led the way with three service aces.
Both teams were very evenly matched in the contest as the Racers hit .166 as a team and the Salukis (0-5) hit .165. SIU had the edge at the net, out-blocking the Racers 13-5, while in the serving department MSU had three more aces (9-6) but three more errors (16-13).
MSU returns to road action this weekend as it travels to Bradley for the CEFCU Bradley Classic. The Racers open the two-match tournament at 6 p.m., Friday against the Braves.