SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, Austin Peay 1 (25-20, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20)
Jacksonville State 3, @Belmont 0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-16)
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Murray State 2 (24-26, 25-19, 26-24, 20-25, 21-19)
@UT Martin 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-17)
SIUE 3, @Southeast Missouri 2 (16-25, 25-18, 11-25, 25-20, 21-19)
Tennessee Tech 3, @Tennessee State 0 (25-22, 25-12, 25-22)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Jumping out to early leads in each of its three set victories, Morehead State volleyball improved to 10-0 at home with a four-set victory over Austin Peay Saturday. The Eagles (14-4, 5-1 OVC) defeated the Governors (5-15, 3-3) by scores of 25-20, 21-25, 25-14, and 25-20.
The victory marked the 300th career victory for head coach Jaime Gordon at Morehead State, making him just the second coach in Morehead State history to reach 300 wins at the helm for the Eagles. He joins former Eagle baseball coach Steve Hamilton in the 300-win club, sitting six victories shy of passing Hamilton for the most by a Morehead State head coach.
Career-best efforts propelled Morehead State over Austin Peay as redshirt junior right-side hitter Liz Allen, freshman setter Bridget Bessler, junior outside hitter Olivia Lohmeier, and sophomore middle blocker Mia Swearingen put forth career-highs Saturday.
Allen (five), Lohmeier (seven), and Swearingen (eight) each collected career-high block totals as Morehead State deterred a season-best 14 shots. In addition to her career-best block total, Swearingen also chipped in a career-high 14 kills, tying with Lohmeier for the team lead in the category. Bessler earned her fourth career double-double, scooping up a career-best 13 digs while passing out a match-high 45 assists.
Elsewhere offensively, Allen, sophomore middle blocker Hannah Keating, and junior outside hitter Lauren Rokey record seven, six, and seven kills, respectively. As a team, Morehead State recorded 53 team kills, 51 of which feature an assist.
In cohort with the team's blocking effort, the Eagles put in work along the backline, collecting 70 digs in the match, holding Austin Peay to a season-worst .104 hitting percentage. Sophomore libero Allison Whitten captained the group, digging up 16 balls as she and Bessler reached double-figures. In total, 11 Eagles recorded digs with seven players digging up five or more balls.
In service, Morehead State once again led their opponent in service aces, landing four during the match. Saturday marked the 14th time the Eagles have led a match in service aces with Allison Whitten collecting a team-best two aces.
Austin Peay's Brooke Moore notche a double-double with a team-best 17 kills and 12 digs. Ginny Gerig Busse recorded a team-high 25 digs.
UT MARTIN 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team earned a sweep this afternoon as the Skyhawks pieced together a 3-0 triumph over Ohio Valley Conference foe Eastern Illinois (25-20, 25-16, 25-17).
UT Martin (6-14, 2-4 OVC) was in control from the start, hitting a season-high .360 as a team. Six different Skyhawks ranged between six and nine kills today as Addison Conley and Logan Wallick each accumulated a team-best nine kills. Justine Walker accounted for a remarkable .636 hitting percentage (eight kills, one error in 11 swings) and Kenzie Hinshaw came away with six kills, 30 assists and a team-high nine digs to aid UT Martin to the win.
The balanced Skyhawk offense was on full display early, as each of UT Martin’s first six kills in the match came from a different player. Wallick’s second kill of the opening set doubled up the Panthers at 10-5 before a Hinshaw service ace pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to 13-6. Eastern Illinois unreeled four unanswered points to pull within one point (16-15) but back-to-back Gintare Mackeviciute kills and back-to-back Lucy Kaufman service aces helped UT Martin put the score out of reach.
The Skyhawks raced out to a 6-2 lead in the second set, featuring kills out of Wallick, Conley and Karen Scanlon. Conley added two more kills early to help UT Martin extend its lead to 12-6 but the Panthers responded with a 6-1 surge to get within a single point. The Skyhawks were not fazed, ending the set on a 12-4 run that included a trio of kills by Wallick – including the set-clincher to give UT Martin a 2-0 advantage in the match.
The final set was tight throughout, featuring 11 tie scores and five lead changes. Hinshaw notched a kill to even the score at 7-7 but Eastern Illinois used a 5-1 run to go ahead. In an instant, the Skyhawks went on a 5-0 run to reclaim a 13-12 advantage and force the Panthers to burn a timeout. Eastern Illinois briefly held a 15-14 lead but that would be the last time that UT Martin would trail, as the Skyhawks outscored the Panthers 11-2 down the stretch. Walker played a big part in UT Martin’s late rally, tallying two kills and two blocks in the final six points of the match.
Katie Sommer and Kylie Michael each had 10 kills to lead the Panthers.
SIUE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - SIUE volleyball has kept their streak alive by downing the Redhawks of Southeast Missouri State 16-25, 25-18, 11-25, 25-20 and 21-19.
The Cougars had two player's record double-doubles, Rachel McDonald and Mallory Nicholson. McDonald recorded 10 kills and 28 digs on the day while Nicholson had 24 assists and 14 digs.
Also for the team, Savannah Christian led the team in kills with 14, Hope Everett contributed 11 kills and Dylynn Otte added ten of her own.
Southeast Missouri's Annie Wehrheim and Krista Berns each had 12 kills to lead the team. Laney Malloy had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Claire Ochs also had a double-double with 44 assists and 16 digs.
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, MURRAY STATE 2
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team knocked off first-place Murray State Saturday in Richmond. It was the first time the Colonels beat Murray State since 2011, which was also in Richmond in five sets.
The Colonels won 24-26, 25-19, 26-24, 20-25 and 21-19.
Abby Noll posted a double-double with her career-best 29 kills and 18 digs to lead the Colonels. It was her ninth double-double on the year. Rachel Woody posted a match-best 54 assists on the game. Katelynn Caserma-Kloeble chipped in 10 kills of her own.
In set five, Eastern jumped out to an early 4-1 lead after an attack error by Murray State. The Racers answered back though, using a 5-0 run after the attack error by Eastern to take a 6-4 lead and forced a Colonel timeout. The two teams would trade points until back-to-back kills by Kaylin Johnson and Noll tied the final set at 9-9. The teams traded punches back-and-forth and the Racers fended off six match points to take the 19-18 lead. However, a kill by Noll and two attack errors by the Racers, allowed the Colonels to close the match on a 3-0 run to secure the win.
Murray State got off to a quick start to open the match, using a 4-1 run after the Colonel service error. But Eastern stormed back and took a 13-10 lead after an attack error by Murray State. The Racers answered back using a 3-0 run capped off by a Rachel Giustino kill to tie the opening stanza at 13-13. Eastern responded with a 4-1 run of its own to retake the lead 17-14 in set one. After Eastern took a 20-18 lead, the Racers responded with three straight points to take a 21-20 lead after the ace by Becca Fernandez. EKU took the 24-23 lead after the kill by Noll, but MSU scored the final three points of the set to take the opening frame 26-24.
The two teams traded points to open the second set, but Murray State took a 10-7 lead after the kill by Rachel Holthaus. The Colonels responded though, using an 8-2 run to take a 16-12 lead that they would never give up. The Racers cut the Colonel lead to one, 20-19, after the kill by Holthaus, but Eastern scored the last five points of the set to take the set 25-19 and tie the match at 1-1.
In set three, Murrays State once again used a big start to take a 10-6 lead over the Colonels. Eastern fell down as much as five points two times during the set and trailed 24-21 after an attack error. But EKU flexed its muscles scoring the last five points of the set after a pair of kills by Johnson to take the set 26-24 and take a 2-1 lead.
In set four, the roles were reversed and Eastern used a quick start to take a 10-7 lead over the Racers. However, Murray State responded with a 5-1 run to take a 12-11 lead after the kill by Kolby McClelland. MSU continued by scoring seven of the next 11 points to take a 19-15 lead in the set and not look back. The Racers took the fourth set 25-20 to tie the match at 2-2 and set up the fifth set heroics.
Murray State was led Giustino who posted a team-best 21 kills and 16 digs on the contest. Holthaus chipped in 15 kills of her own. Fernandez posted a team-best 24 digs.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Behind a .347 team hitting percentage, the Jacksonville State volleyball team put Belmont away in straight sets on Saturday for the Gamecocks' first sweep over the Bruins in Nashville since 1997.
The Gamecocks (11-7, 5-1 Ohio Valley Conference) are off to their best start in league play since 2016 after dismantling the host Bruins (2-17, 1-5 OVC). JSU's dominating conclusion to the weekend capped six-straight set wins over Tennessee State and Belmont over the weekend. After six league games JSU sits tied for first place with Morehead State, who the Gamecocks handed a loss to earlier in the year.
Much like all season, sophomore Lena Kindermann powered through with 13 kills to lead the team on Saturday, followed by senior Kaylee Frear with 11. Frear, however, also matched a team-high with three blocks to push her over the 400 mark for her career. Kaylie Milton reached nine kills, while Sadie Anderson hit .462 with six putaways. Freshman Erin Carmichael and Lexie Libs led the team in digs behind a defense that tallied seven blocks.
Lauren Walsh led Belmont with seven kills and eight digs.
The Gamecocks surges out to a 16-5 advantage in the opening set to take control early. JSU would go on to hit .520 as a team in the first to run away with a 25-12 win as the Bruins were held to a -.077 average.
The second set was the closest of the day's three frames as the set featured six ties and three lead changes. After starting in a 4-0 hole, JSU meticulously closed the gap until a kill from Anderson handed JSU its first lead at 19-18. The Bruins hung around to keep the score even at 21, before a service error gave the advantage back to JSU. Up 24-23, a final swing from Kindermann gave way to a 2-0 match lead.
The third game began 8-8 before JSU used an 8-2 run to force Belmont to call its first timeout. Out of the break, the Gamecocks continued to roll for a 25-16 win.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech defeated Tennessee State in three sets (25-22, 25-12, 25-22) in Nashville on Saturday night.
Taylor Dorsey and Ali Verzani led the Golden Eagles with nine kills each. Verzani added six digs in the match. Ashley Hand dished out a team-high 28 assists to go with seven digs while Carly Skrabak led Tech with 13 digs.
Tennessee State was led by Alondrah Santana-Rodriguez with eight kills. Julia Pierson added five kills and nine digs while Gina Rivera Ortiz had a team-best 10 digs. Teuila Lolotai notched 15 assist.