SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Belmont 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-22, 25-11, 25-23)
Morehead State 3, @Tennessee Tech 1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23)
@Ausitn Peay 3, UT Martin 1 (25-23, 17-25, 25-20, 25-21)
SIUE 3, @Tennessee State 2 (22-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 15-13)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Murray State 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-18)
BELMONT 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Belmont Volleyball held back a feisty visiting Eastern iIlinois on Saturday afternoon en route to recording its first Ohio Valley Conference win of the season. The Bruins (2-17, 1-3 OVC) defeated EIU (1-15, 0-4 OVC), 3-0, in the Curb Event Center.
For the match, sophomore Taylor Floyd (Louisville, Ky.) led the Bruins with 10 kills, followed by classmate Mary Catherine Ball (Hendersonville, N.C.) with nine. Sophomore Carly Mason (Forsyth, Ill.) posted 33 assists while classmate Peyton Kelley (Normal, Ill.) finished with a match-high 15 digs. Juniors MacKenzie Harless (Brownsburg, Ind.) and Halee Van Poppel (Argyle, Texas) each added a pair of block assists.
Kylie Michael led the Panthers with eight kills to go with seven digs. Madison Cunningham had a team-best 11 digs while Bailey Chandler dished out 24 assists.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Heading on the road for the first time during Ohio Valley Conference play, Morehead State improved to 3-0 in league play with a four-set defeat of Tennessee Tech. The Eagles (12-3, 3-0 OVC) defeated the Golden Eagles (6-11, 2-2) by scores of 25-17, 21-25, 25-14, 25-23.
Leading Morehead State in kills for the 13th time this season, junior outside hitter Olivia Lohmeier racked up 24 terminations on the afternoon. The total gives Lohmeier her fifth 20-plus kill match of the year as she crafted a .283 hitting percentage in the match. She also added 10 digs during the match to collect her second double-double of the season and third of her career.
Also in double-figures for the Eagles was freshman outside hitter Abby Hulsman who eclipsed 10 kills for the first time in her career, finishing the match with 12.
As a team, Morehead State hit .175, collecting 55 total kills during the match's four-set duration. The Eagles recorded 52 total assists in the match paced by freshman setter Bridget Bessler who collected 35 kills in three sets and some change. Redshirt junior setter Chandler Clark added seven sets in relief of Bessler during the fourth set.
Defensively, four Eagles dug up 10 or more balls as the team scooped up 80 balls on the afternoon. In addition to Lohmeier, sophomore libero Allison Whitten (17), redshirt sophomore defensive specialist Taylor Hodges (14), and sophomore defensive specialist Olivia Montelisciani (13) recorded double-figure digs.
At the net, Morehead State turned away four Tennessee Tech attacks. Hulsman and sophomore middle blocker Hannah Keating tallied two blocks each while Bessler, Lohmeier, and senior middle blocker Karlee Reynolds added one block apiece.
Morehead State added six service aces as Whitten led the team with a match-high three aces. Bessler, Hodges, and Montelisciani also registered aces for the Eagles.
Tennessee Tech's Taylor Dorsey led the team with 14 kills while Ali Verzani notched a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. Ashley Hand also had a double-double with 34 assists and 11 digs.
SIUE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The SIUE Volleyball team picked up their first road conference win of the season by downing the Tigers of Tennessee State 22-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22, 15-12 on Saturday.
The Cougars recorded a season high of 66 kills in their victory against the Tigers.
Two SIUE Cougars ended the day with double doubles including Rachel McDonald and Mallory Nicholson. McDonald ended the day with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Nicolson tallied 24 assists and 11 digs.
Also on the day, two Cougar players recorded career highs. Savannah Christian notched a career high of 14 kills in the five-set thriller. She also hit an impressive .300 on the day. Sarah Armendariz recorded a career high in assists by tallying 27.
Others contributing to the team's victory include Hope Everett who totaled 12 kills and Jordyn Klein who ended the day with 24 digs.
Tennessee State was led by Jasmine Fuqua with a team-best 12 kills to go with 13 digs. Teuila Lolotai also had a double-double with 25 assists and 13 digs. Gina Rivera Ortiz had a team-high 21 digs.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, UT MARTIN 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team was on the verge of a big Ohio Valley Conference road win today but fell victim to an unrelenting comeback in a four-set loss to Austin Peay (23-25, 25-17, 20-25, 21-25).
The Governors took the first set but the Skyhawks recovered by hitting an even .400 (18 kills against just four errors) in 35 swings on their way to a win in the second stanza. UT Martin then began the third set on an 8-0 run but Austin Peay was able to come from behind and swing the momentum before winning the fourth and final set.
Gintare Mackeviciute slammed down a match-high 15 kills on a blazing .500 hitting percentage today, adding a match-high five blocks to lead the Skyhawks. Kenzie Hinshaw (match-best 45 assists, 10 digs), Addison Conley (11 kills) and Jessica Reynolds (10 kills) additionally stood out offensively while Lucy Kaufman established a new career-high in digs (18) for the second time in as many days.
Things got started on the right foot as Mackeviciute and Logan Wallick opened the first set with back-to-back kills. Wallick followed with two more quick kills but the Governors pieced together a 14-3 run. UT Martin struck back with nine of 11 points during one stretch as Mackeviciute was responsible for three kills during that surge. The Skyhawks closed to within one point on three different occasions late (21-20, 23-22, 24-23) but could not break through as Austin Peay took the 1-0 lead.
The second stanza included seven tie scores as Conley had the hot hand early for UT Martin. The sophomore out of London, Ohio accounted for each of the first three Skyhawk points via kills while Karen Scanlon followed with back-to-back kills for UT Martin. Both sides swapped blows before Conley went on a personal 3-0 run (kill, two service aces) to push the Skyhawks ahead 13-9. UT Martin would eventually stretch its lead out to nine points (24-15) after an assisted block by Scanlon and Justine Walker before evening the match at 1-all.
The Skyhawks’ aforementioned 8-0 run to start the third set featured two service aces and two assists from Hinshaw. A Mackeviciute kill kept UT Martin’s lead at eight points (13-5) but the Governors used a 13-3 run to take their first lead of the set. An Austin Peay service error and a kill by Mackeviciute evened the score at 19-19 but the Governors were able to end the set with six of the final seven points.
Conley provided a kill for the Skyhawks’ first point of the fourth set but Austin Peay tacked on a 6-0 run to claim the early advantage. Moments later, Reynolds came through with a pair of kills during a 5-0 UT Martin run that whittled its deficit to 9-8. However, the Governors immediately scored 11 of the next 13 points and soon had set point at 24-15. The Skyhawks fought off elimination with six straight points before Austin Peay took the set by a 25-21 margin.
Austin Peay was led by Chloe Stitt with 14 kills while Tegan Seyring added 13. Kelsey Mead dished out a team-high 35 assists while Ginny Gerig Busse led the Govs with 14 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, MURRAY STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (11-7, 3-1) swept Murray State (9-7, 3-1), 25-23, 25-20, 25-18, Saturday evening at Racer Arena to improve to 3-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference play.
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks offense with 12 kills. Mikayla Kuhlmann added 11 and Annie Wehrheim chipped in 10.
Setter Claire Ochs dished out 30 assists and had a double-double with 10 digs.
Tara Beilsmith led the defense with 20 digs and Emily Boggetto had seven.
Southeast hit a match high .357 in the third and final set as the Redhawks finished with a .314 clip.
The Redhawks out blocked the Racers 11-3. Maggie Adams tallied seven blocks while Ochs and Krista Berns each had four.
Rachel Giustino led the Racers with 21 kills while hitting .269. Ashley McBee dished out 35 assists while Becca Fernandez had 24 digs.