SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-22)
@Morehead State 3, SIUE 2 (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-27, 15-10)
UT Martin 3, @Tennessee State 1 (25-17, 25-15, 15-25, 25-22)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Belmont 1 (25-13, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20)
@Jacksonville State 3, Austin Peay 0 (26-24, 25-19, 25-22)
Murray State 3, @Tennessee Tech 1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team brought out the brooms on Saturday to sweep Eastern Illinois University.
The Colonels won 27-25, 25-17 and 25-22.
Katelynn Caserma-Kloeble and Abby Noll paced the Colonel offense posting match-highs with 12 kills. Jovana Bulatovic chipped in nine kills of her own. Dena Tekavec led the way on the back line posting a match-best 28 digs.
Eastern used a hot start in the opening set jumping out to a 10-5 lead after back-to-back kills by Caserma-Kloeble. The Colonels took a six point lead, 15-9 after a service error by the Panthers but EIU did not go down quietly. The Panthers capped off a 4-0 run after a kill from Kylie Michael to tie the opening set at 19-19. The two teams traded points and the Colonels fought off two set points to tie the set at 25-25. EKU closed the set on a 3-0 run after a Rachel Woody kill to take the opening set 27-25.
In set two, the two teams were all square at 8-8 after an EKU attack error. But, the Colonels took the lead using an 8-0 run capped off by a kill by Bulatovic to take a 16-8 lead in the set and not look back. EIU cut the Colonels lead to 21-15 after a kill by Katie Sommer that forced an EKU timeout. However, Eastern scored four of the last six points to take the set 25-17 and a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers used a quick start in the third stanza and jumped out to a 14-8 lead after an EKU error. However, the Colonels kept chipping away. Noll went for the hat trick with three straight kills to cut the Panther lead to 16-13 and force an EIU timeout. After the Panthers took a 19-15 lead in the set, the Colonels flexed their muscles running off six straight points to take a 21-19 lead. Eastern Illinois answered back with a 3-0 run of its own to tie the match at 22-22, but the Colonels scored the last three points of the match after back-to-back kills by Noll to complete the sweep.
Laurel Bailey led the way for the Panthers posted a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, SIUE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Looking to snap a six-game losing streak to SIUE, Morehead State volleyball did just that Saturday afternoon, outlasting SIUE in a five-set affair. The Eagles (17-6, 8-2 OVC) defeated the Cougars (11-11, 7-3) by scores of 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-27, and 15-10.
Morehead State applied pressure to its opponent in all facets of the game, recording 89 digs, 67 kills, 62 assists, nine service aces, and seven total blocks. The Eagles recorded double-digit per set averages in digs (17.8), kills (13.4), and assists (12.4) on the afternoon.
The Eagles backline once again shined, averaging 17.8 digs per set, racking up 89 total digs in the match. Four individuals—freshman setter Bridget Bessler, redshirt senior defensive specialist Danielle McCarson, sophomore defensive specialist Olivia Montelisciani, and sophomore libero Allison Whitten—each recorded 10 of more digs. Whitten captained the back row, scooping up 21 balls for the second consecutive match while Montelisciani added 12, McCarson chipped in 11, and Bessler tallied 10.
At the net, Morehead State deterred seven total SIUE attacks, collecting two solo blocks and ten block assists. Sophomore middle blockers Hannah Keating and Mia Swearingen anchored the middle for the Eagles, blocking three and four balls, respectively. As a team, Morehead State's defense held the Cougars to a .123 team hitting percentage.
Offensively, a trio of Eagles finished with double-figure kill counts as a pair of junior outside hitters combined for 40 of the team's 67 kills. Olivia Lohmeier registered a match-high 21 kills while Lauren Rokey followed right on her heels with 19 terminations of her own. Swearingen added 15 kills to round out the trio. Keating (.385) and Swearingen (.345) both concluded the match with hitting percentages north of .340.
Directing the offense, Bessler passed out 53 of the team's 62 assists, averaging 10.6 helpers per set. With five assists on the afternoon, McCarson followed Bessler on the box score, setting a season-high in the category.
Tying a career-high, Montelisciani led the Eagles' service, landing six of the team's nine service aces. The six aces tie her six pocketed against Davidson in September for the most in a match this season. Lohmeier, McCarson, and Whitten also collected an ace apiece.
SIUE's Rachel McDonald notched a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs while Hope Everett led the team with 11 kills. Jordyn Klein recorded a team-high 22 digs.
UT MARTIN 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Redshirt sophomore Logan Wallick accumulated a career-high 24 kills today as the University of Tennessee at Martin’s offense stayed hot in a 3-1 victory at Tennessee State (25-17, 25-15, 15-25, 25-22) in Ohio Valley Conference volleyball action.
Wallick easily eclipsed her previous career-high of 20 kills, set earlier this season against Little Rock. The outside hitter out of Waddell, Ariz. hit .391 on the day, only committing six attack errors while adding six digs and four blocks at the net.
Kenzie Hinshaw tied a career-high with 52 assists today, directing a Skyhawk offense that hit .353 as a team. She also registered eight digs and five kills. Gintare Mackeviciute (13 kills, .524 attack percentage) and Karen Scanlon (10 kills, .391 attack percentage) additionally reached double-digits in the kill column for UT Martin, who improved to 9-16 overall and 5-5 in OVC play.
Defensively, Lucy Kaufman equaled a career-best with 19 digs at the libero spot while Justine Walker came away with a match-high seven blocks as the Skyhawks did not trail through the first two sets.
Wallick began the opening stanza with three kills in UT Martin’s first four points. Scanlon tallied a pair of kills during a 7-1 Skyhawk run that made the score 16-8 in favor of UT Martin. Wallick and Scanlon each secured two more kills apiece down the stretch before Hinshaw was responsible for the set-clinching kill as the Skyhawks led by as many as nine points in the first set.
UT Martin scored three of the first four points in the second set while Mackeviciute accounted for two kills to up the Skyhawk lead to 8-5. Tennessee State tied the score at 8-all but UT Martin unreeled five straight points, highlighted by a Hinshaw service ace. Scanlon and Addison Conley also added service aces in the second set before Wallick closed out the Tigers with three kills in the Skyhawks’ final six points.
Tennessee State grabbed its first lead of the match in the early stages of the third set, despite a pair of kills from Walker. Mackeviciute delivered three kills in a row for UT Martin at one point but the Skyhawks soon found themselves in a 14-8 deficit. Kills by Conley and Wallick willed UT Martin to within five points but the Tigers concluded the stanza with eight of the final 11 points.
The Skyhawks received five kills out of five different players (Wallick, Walker, Conley, Scanlon, Mackeviciute) to begin the fourth set. Tennessee State led by a 10-6 margin but UT Martin continued to chip away until breaking through to take a 17-16 advantage after the second straight block assist by Walker and Wallick. The score was knotted at 21-all but the Skyhawks recovered to end the match on a 4-1 run, which included two more Wallick kills as she put the finishing touches on the best match of her career.
Aniya Williams led Tennessee State with 18 kills while Julia Pierson added 17. Gina Rivera Ortiz had a team-high 16 digs.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team capped a perfect home weekend with a 3-0 sweep (26-24, 25-19, 25-22) of Austin Peay on Saturday to remain at the top of the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
JSU (14-8, 8-2 OVC) avenged its season-ending loss to APSU (7-17, 5-5 OVC) in last year's OVC Tournament. Overall, the win snapped a four-match losing skid to the Govs, and brought the all-time series record back even at 16-16.
A season-best 14 blocks by the Gamecock defense set the tone as the Govs were held to a .148 attack average for the day. Senior Kaylee Frear controlled the net with a team-high seven rejections, while fellow senior Shayla Schmidt matched her career-high with six stops. Behind them, nine Gamecocks registered digs as the back row evenly upped the attacks that made it through the block. Freshman libero Erin Carmichael led with 10 digs, followed by Lexie Libs with six, while Schmidt, Maddie Cloutier and Kaylie Milton each had four.
On the offensive side, Libs dished 34 of JSU's 39 assists in the straight-sets win. She found sophomore Lena Kindermann for a team-high 11 kills, while Milton picked up nine and Schmidt added eight. Junior Dani Steele served two of JSU's three aces in the match.
The first set featured six ties and three lead changes. After APSU pulled out from a 9-9 tie, JSU found itself down 19-15 late. Head coach Todd Garvey would use a timeout trailing 23-20, where a kill by Milton after the break sparked a clutch 5-1 run to overcome the Govs late and take the set 25-23.
Leading by one at 8-7 early in the second, Jax State pieced together a 12-3 stretch to grab control, 20-10. APSU tried to rally late, but the Gamecocks held on for the 25-19 decision to take a 2-0 match lead at the break. In the third, it was a slow start for JSU who called timeout down 8-2. The Gamecocks began the comeback from there, pulling within one at 11-10, but the Govs stretched it back at to four at 18-14. A kill by Milton cut the margin to three, and a block from Schmidt and Sadie Anderson pulled JSU back to within a point before an ace from Libs evened things up. Deadlocked at 22-22, Kindermann's kill started a 3-0 finish for the home squad to complete the sweep.
Austin Peay was led by Karli Graham with 10 kills while Ginny Gerig Busse notched a team-best 16 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (16-8, 8-2 OVC) extended its win streak to four with a 3-1 victory (25-13, 21-25, 25-14, 25-20) over Belmont (2-23, 1-9 OVC) Saturday afternoon at the Curb Event Center.
With the win, Southeast matched its overall (16) and conference (8) win totals from 2018. 16 wins is the most in a season for SEMO since 2013 when the team registered 17 overall wins with nine occurring in conference play.
The victory was also the first for the Redhawks at Belmont since the school became a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.
Maggie Adams notched a career-best 14 kills on a team-high .684 clip with six blocks. Krista Berns chipped in a personal-high 13 kills while connecting at a .500 rate and had four blocks.
Laney Malloy paced the Redhawks with a team-high 16 kills and 12 digs for the double-double outing.
Claire Ochs dished out 40 assists and 10 digs to also record a double-double.
Southeast jumped out to 1-0 lead in the match after a 25-13 first set. The Redhawks utilized a 9-1 run to pull ahead 14-4.
Ally Dion added an ace to make the score 19-10 before a kill from Annie Wehrheim brought the advantage to 21-11.
Berns added a kill and Malloy registered the service ace to seal the first set, 25-13.
Belmont responded with a 25-21 second frame to even the match at 1-1. Trailing, 22-15, Southeast went on a 6-0 rally to come within a point, 22-21.
The third set started competitively in the race to 10 points. With a slight 9-8 edge, SEMO widened the gap with a 6-0 run that featured two kills and two block assists from Adams to pull ahead 15-8.
Berns and Malloy each added kills before teaming up for a block to make the advantage 19-11. Malloy then chipped in another kill and Emily Boggetto placed an ace for the 10-point lead, 21-11.
Ochs called her own number and slammed a kill to clinch the set, 25-14.
In the fourth and final frame, SEMO distanced themselves from the Bruins with Berns rally stoppers that bookended a Malloy ace and a block assist by Berns and Ochs, 10-4.
Belmont stormed back with seven straight points to take an 11-10 edge.
Adams rocketed a kill to knot the set at 15-15 before a kill from Berns coupled with an ace by Boggetto made the score 18-16.
Belmont came as close as 23-20 before a block assist by Mikayla Kuhlmann and Adams along with a kill by Wehrheim concluded the contest. Wehrheim finished the day with five rally stoppers.
Southeast posted 10 aces compared to the Bruins three. Boggetto, Berns and Malloy each tallied three.
Southeast hit at a .272 clip and posted .300 plus sets in the first (.316), third (.324) and fourth (.361).
The Redhawks also out blocked Belmont, 10-6. Kuhlmann had four to complement her six kills.
Tara Beilsmith led the defense with 22 digs. Dion added 15 while Boggetto had nine.
Mackenzie LePage led the Bruins with 11 kills while Taylor Floyd had 10 kills and 12 digs.
Belmont junior Mackenzie LePage recorded 11 kills. Sophomore Taylor Floyd followed with 10 kills and notched a double-double with a team-high 12 digs. Classmate Carly Mason tallied 24 assists and finished with a double-double after collecting 11 digs. Senior Akia Warrior posted 12 assists and 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. Sophomore Mary Catherine Ball collected her fourth solo block of the season while freshman Kailee Bass posted her ninth of the season. Freshman Lauren Walsh finished with a career and team best two service aces.
MURRAY STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Murray State picked up a road win over Tennessee Tech on Saturday night. The Racers defeated the Golden Eagles in four sets (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-21). Murray State improved to 13-9 overall and 7-3 in the OVC while Tech fell to 10-13 overall and 6-4 in league play.
Rachel Giustino led the Racers with 22 points and 18 digs while Rachel Holthaus also had a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs. Callie Anderton dished out 54 assists to go with 15 digs.
Tennessee Tech was led by Ali Verzani with 15 kills and 12 digs. Taylor Dorsey added 11 kills. Carly Skrabak led the team with 22 digs while Ashley Hand had 52 assists and 10 digs.