FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Murray State 3, UT Martin 0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-16)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Austin Peay 2 (25-21, 29-27, 20-25, 27-29, 15-13)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Eastern Kentucky 2 (24-26, 25-16, 25-18, 17-25, 15-7)
MURRAY STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
MURRAY, Ky. - After five weeks on the road to begin the season, the Murray State volleyball team made their home debut Friday evening, defeating UT Martin in three sets to remain perfect in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Racers improve to 9-6 overall and 3-0 in conference play as the Skyhawks fall to 5-12 overall and 1-2 in the OVC. It is also the 14th straight win for MSU at Racer Arena, dating back to 2017.
Rachel Giustino, the OVC's leader in kills, led the Racers with 20 kills while hitting .405. Kolby McClelland chipped in with nine kills and Rachel Holthaus added eight of her own. Ashley McBee dished out 25 assists while reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Week Becca Fernandez had 15 digs.
As a team, the Racers hit .284 and had five service aces while holding the Skyhawks to a .061 hitting percentage and just one ace.
UT Martin started off strong with back-to-back blocks to begin the match, but that was the high point for the Skyhawks as the rest of the set was all Racers. After the first two points, the Racers went on a 6-1 run to take a lead they would not give up. Up 16-11 later in the set, Murray State went on a 5-0 run to double their lead. The Skyhawks got the score back within five at 24-19, but Giustino ended the set on the next point with a kill.
The second set was close early before a 6-2 run by MSU gave the Racers a 12-7 lead. A 5-1 run a little later, which included three kills by Holthaus and two by McClelland pushed the Racer lead to 19-11, which was more than enough cushion as Murray State eventually won the set, 25-16.
The Racers bolted out of the gates in the third set, taking a 6-1 lead aided by back-to-back kills by Katirah Johnson. UT Martin never got it any closer as the Racers took the set, 25-16, ending the match with two straight kills by McClelland to culminate a 4-0 run.
Making just her second career start at libero, freshman Lucy Kaufman registered a career-high 14 digs while Justine Walker added a match-best four blocks to pace UT Martin defensively. Gintare Mackeviciute hit .455 while sharing the team lead with five kills and Kenzie Hinshaw delivered 17 assists for the Skyhawk offense.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, AUSTIN PEAY 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (10-7, 2-1 OVC) fought past Austin Peay (4-13, 2-1 OVC), 3-2 (25-21, 29-27, 20-25, 27-29, 15-13), Friday evening at the Winfield Dunn Center for Southeast's first victory over the Governors since Sept. 26, 2015.
The win also marked the first in Clarksville, Tennessee, since Oct. 7, 2011.
Southeast notched a program-record 21 blocks in the match as they out blocked the Governors, 21-11. Maggie Adams led the Redhawks with a career best 10. Krista Berns and Mikayla Kuhlmann (career high) each added six. Southeast total 6.0 in the second set.
Annie Wehrheim led the offense with a season high 21 kills on a .309 clip. Laney Malloy added 16 kills with 22 digs and Kuhlmann chipped in 12 kills.
Southeast grabbed the opening two sets, 25-21, 29-27, before Austin Peay who was pegged to finish second this season in the Ohio Valley Conference stormed back with 25-20, 27-29 third and fourth sets to force a decisive final frame.
A kill from Wehrheim pulled Southeast within a point, 3-2, early in the fifth set.
Back-to-back kills from Berns then knotted the set at 6-6 before a Laney Malloy ace gave the Redhawks a slight edge.
Kuhlmann and Adams combined for a block assist to make the score 9-8.
Kuhlmann added a kill before Wehrheim slammed a rally stopper to tie the set at 11-11.
Malloy then registered a solo block before a Governors error brought on an Austin Peay timeout at 13-11.
Out of the break, Brook Moore tallied a kill before an Austin Peay error tied the contest for the final time Friday, 13-13.
Wehrheim slammed a kill and then Malloy and Berns teamed up for the block to seal the win, 15-13.
Southeast jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match behind a .342 hitting clip. Wehrheim, Malloy and Kuhlmann each had four kills in the first frame.
A Malloy service ace followed by a block assist by Berns and Ochs extended the margin to 12-4 in the first set. SEMO then grew its advantage to 20-10 before Malloy knotted a kill for set point, 24-15.
Austin Peay fended off seven set points before conceding a service error, 25-21.
The second set was a highly competitive contest that featured 13 ties and four lead changes and needed extra innings to settle.
Consecutive rally stoppers from Berns and Kuhlmann provided the Redhawks with a one point advantage, 19-18. Berns added another to bring the set to 24-23.
Down the stretch, the score was tied at 24-24, 25-25, 26-26 and 27-27 before a block by Adams and a Governors attack error concluded the frame in SEMO's favor 29-27.
Claire Ochs dished out a season high 54 assists and had 19 digs defensively.
Tara Beilsmith led the team defensively with a career best 26-dig outing.
With six total blocks (1 solo, five assists), Berns now ranks fourth all-time in Southeast program history (25-point rally scoring era from 2008-present) with 283 career total blocks. She overtook Kelsey Keeves who had 278 career total blocks from 2011-14.
Ally Dion placed two service aces and is now one away from tying Jade Mortimer's 93 career service aces for first in program history (25-point rally scoring era from 2008-present).
Austin Peay's Brooke Moore led the team with 19 kills to go with 19 digs. Karlie Graham had 15 kills. Jenna Panning chipped in 13 kills while Tegan Seyring added 11. Ginny Gerig Busse notched a match high 46 digs.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team fell in five sets to Tennessee Tech University Friday night in Cookeville.
The Colonels lost 26-24, 16-25, 18-25, 25-17 and 7-15.
Abby Noll posted a team-best 14 kills and 13 digs. Jovana Bulatovic chipped in eight kills. Kaylin Johnson posted seven kills and Mikayla Logan had six of her own.
The Colonels used a quick start in the opening stanza taking a 7-1 lead after a Golden Eagle error. Tech responded with a 6-0 run of its own to tie the set at 7-7 after back-to-back service aces by Ashley Hand. Tennessee Tech jumped out to a 16-13 lead after a kill by Rachel Thomas, but Eastern came back. After taking a 19-16 lead, the Colonels used a 3-0 to tie the opening set at 19-19. EKU scored the last three points of the set, all by kills to take the opening set 26-24.
In set two, the two teams traded points to start the set and were tied 6-6 after an attack error by the Golden Eagles. TTU used a 10-1 run midway through the set to take a 16-8 lead and not look back. Tech took the set 25-16 to tie the match at 1-1.
Tech started the third stanza on an 8-1 run, capped off by an EKU error. The Colonels did not go down without a fight though. After trailing by as many as nine points, Eastern cut the Golden Eagles lead to two, 17-15 after a kill by Katelynn Caserma-Kloeble. An attack error by TTU cut its lead to 19-18, but the Golden Eagles scored the last six points of the set to take a 2-1 lead.
In set four, the two teams traded points back-and-forth to start the set. After falling behind 10-9, Eastern used a 3-0 run after an attack error by TTU to take a 12-10 lead and the lead for good. Eastern used a 10-2 run after a pair of aces by Dena Tekavec to take a commanding 22-14 lead. Eastern tied the match after taking the set 25-17.
In set five, Tennessee Tech started on a 9-0 run and the Colonels could not overcome it. Eastern kept chipping away but could never get closer than six points and fell 15-7.
Ali Verzani led the way offensively for the Golden Eagles posting a match-best 16 kills and 15 digs. Three Golden Eagles posted double-digit kills.