SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Austin Peay 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-16)
UT Martin 3, @SIUE 0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-23))
@Tennessee Tech 3, Belmont 1 (25-19, 25-20, 26-28, 25-16)
@Jacksonville State 3, Tennessee State 1 (25-20, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18)
@Murrray State 3, Morehead State 0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-21)
Southeast Missouri 3, UT Martin 0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-13)
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team stepped up in one of its biggest moments on Saturday with a 3-1 win over Tennessee State at Pete Mathews Coliseum to secure the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball regular season championship.
A special Senior Day for sure, JSU (19-9, 13-3 OVC) saw its three offensive seniors lead the way in kills with Kaylee Frear and Shayla Schmidt both putting down team-high 14 kills, just ahead of Anderson with 11. It was a career-best effort for Schmidt, while fellow senior Maddie Cloutier also matched her career best with 10 digs along the back row.
Freshman Erin Carmichael upped a team-high 20 attacks , while Anderson added 12 digs in her first double-double of the year. JSU out-blocked TSU, 8-3, as a team behind four from Frear and three by Schmidt, Anderson and Lexie Libs. Libs finished the day with 46 assists.
In front of an energetic crowd at The Pete, the Gamecocks raced out to an 8-2 advantage in the first set but the Tigers failed to shy away of match long. A 4-0 run for TSU Midway through the frame evened the score at 18-18, but Jax State responded with a 4-0 run of its own with kills from Schmidt and Lena Kindermann to build its lead back and take the set, 25-20.
Trying to grab a 2-0 match advantage, the Gamecocks fell behind early in the second and could never overcome TSU in a tight second set that saw the Tigers prevail 25-19 to even the match heading into intermission.
The Gamecocks turned up the pressure after returning to the floor to put away the visiting Tigers with consecutive 25-18 decisions in the final two sets to earn the match and the championship.
Tennessee State's Aria Holmes led the team with 14 kills while Julia Pierson notched a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs. Sofia Garcia-Guerrios also had a double-double with 43 assists and 13 digs.
JSU will now host the 2019 OVC Volleyball Championships at Pete Mathews Coliseum beginning on Thursday, Nov. 21. JSU's opening round opponent will be determined following the conclusion of Saturday's action across the league. The tournament semifinals will be played on Friday, with the championship match set for Saturday evening. More tournament information will be available shortly on JSUGamecockSports.com
UT MARTIN 3, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team pushed its winning streak out to three matches today with a commanding 3-0 sweep over SIUE (25-21, 26-24, 25-23) in Ohio Valley Conference action.
The Skyhawks, who have now won eight of their last 11 OVC matches, conclude the regular season with a 13-18 overall record. Their 9-7 mark in OVC play is the program’s first winning season since 2011.
Logan Wallick continued her offensive tear today, piling up a match-high 13 kills for UT Martin. Karen Scanlon added 11 kills on a .300 hitting percentage while Kenzie Hinshaw collected a double-double with 32 assists and 16 digs. Defensively, Lucy Kaufman was everywhere as she scooped up a career-best 22 digs. Gintare Mackeviciute swatted away six blocks while Scanlon contributed a career-high five blocks for the Skyhawks.
SIUE (14-14, 9-7 OVC) scored seven of the first eight points in the opening set. The Cougar lead remained at four points (17-13) before UT Martin changed the momentum with a set-ending 12-4 run. Five different Skyhawks broke through with kills during that span, as Jessica Reynolds (two), Scanlon, Mackeviciute, Wallick and Justine Walker tallied kills while Kaufman added a late service ace to complete UT Martin’s comeback.
The Skyhawks once again had to play from behind in the second stanza, fighting off elimination four times before taking a 2-0 advantage. UT Martin trailed by four points in the early phases before back-to-back kills from Walker and Scanlon trimmed its deficit to 13-11. SIUE followed with a 7-1 run and eventually led by as many as eight points at 20-12. Facing set point (24-19), the Skyhawks shocked the Cougars by reeling off seven unanswered points as Scanlon generated two kills and a block assist during UT Martin’s final push.
A 7-1 Skyhawk run in the early portion of the third set resulted in UT Martin doubling up SIUE at 8-4. Wallick was soon responsible for kills on three straight Skyhawk points as a Hannah Phillips service ace extended UT Martin’s advantage to 19-16. The Cougars attempted a late comeback, eventually evening the score at 22-all before kills by Scanlon and Walker helped complete the Skyhawk sweep.
SIUE's Dylynn Otte and Rachel McDonald each contributed nine kills of their own. Hope Everett also contributed seven kills. Jordyn Klein led the way with 25 digs, while Annie Ellis and Everett contributed to the blocking efforts.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Behind Brooke Moore’s 13-kill outing, Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team closed out the regular season with a dominant three-set sweep (25-14, 25-16, 25-16) Ohio Valley Conference victory against Eastern Kentucky, Saturday, at the Winfield Dunn Center.
Austin Peay (11-19, 9-7 OVC) finished the OVC regular-season race in a four-way tie for fifth place and will be the No. 5 seed in next week’s OVC Volleyball Championship tournament at Jacksonville State.
The Governors gained control early in all three sets of Saturday’s match against the Colonels. The largest deficit APSU faced in the entire match was an early 4-1 hole in the second set, but it used a 6-0 run to climb out and were not threatened the rest of the way.
Moore had 13 of the Governors 40 kills in the contest. Senior Jenna Panning chipped in nine kills in her final home match. Senior Ginny Gerig posted 26 digs and needs six digs to become the second Govs player with 2,000 career digs.
Eastern Kentucky was held to 25 kills and a .026 team attack percentage. Kaylin Johnson led the Colonels with six kills.
MURRAY STATE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - It was a perfect senior day for the Murray State volleyball team as they swept Morehead State to conclude the regular season.
The Racers improve to 18-10 overall and 12-4 in the OVC and will be the third seed in the OVC Tournament next week, set to be hosted by Jacksonville State.
Murray State's five seniors were all over the court as Rachel Giustino led the way with 15 kills followed by Courtney Radle, who hit a career-high .611 with 11 kills. Rachel Holthaus also chipped in with 10 kills while Megan Lindsay had five kills and two service aces. Alex Kaufmann was solid on defense as she led the Racers with 10 digs.
The first set did not start great for the Racers as they fell behind by as many as six points at 16-10 before an 8-2 run tied the set at 18. The two teams traded points until it was tied at 24 when a service error by the Eagles gave MSU set point before an ace by Giustino clinched the set for the Racers.
In the second set, a kill by Radle gave the Racers a 5-4 lead which they did not give up. Murray State extended their lead to eight and ended up winning the set by that margin as Giusitno sealed to the set to win, 25-17.
The third set was the tightest of the match as neither team held more than a three-point lead most of the set. With the score tied at 19, Giustino recorded a kill before an Eagle error gave the Racers a two-point lead. After trading two points each, MSU ended the match, getting back-to-back kills from Holthaus and Giustino for their final kills at Racer Arena.
Morehead State freshman setter Bridget Bessler surpassed 1,000 assists on the season and her career while junior outside hitter Olivia Lohmeier exceeded 500 kills on the year.
With 1,015 assists on the season—recording 36 against Murray State Saturday—, Bessler is the 14th setter in Morehead State history to reach 1,000 career assists, becoming the third player in the last three seasons to reach 1,000 career assists. She is also just the fifth freshman in program history to pass out 1,000 assists in a season and the first since Casie Garland in 2001.
Lohmeier collected 10 kills, extending her season total to 505 terminations. Clearing the 500-kill plateau, she is the first Eagle since Ellie Roberson in 2012 to reach 500 kills in a season. Accomplishing the feat for the 12th time in program history, Lohmeier is the eighth player to record 500-plus kills in a season.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, BELMONT 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - With three seniors playing the final home match of their careers in the comfort of the Hooper Eblen Center, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team kept its hot streak rolling Saturday afternoon with a 3-1 victory over in-state foe Belmont.
The Senior Day win marked the Golden Eagles' third in-a-row to close out the regular season and came off the heels of a 3-0 win over Tennessee State Friday evening that clinched the purple and gold a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The triumph over the Bruins clinched Tech the seventh seed in the league's upcoming postseason event, which will take place at Jacksonville State, the No. 1 overall seed.
Senior middle blocker Rachel Thomas enjoyed an incredible performance in her swan song in front of a Golden Eagle crowd, leading Tech with 16 kills backed by an eye-popping 60.9 hitting percentage. Fellow middle blocker Taylor Dorsey paced the home team in total points, racking up 20.5 to lead the match. The sophomore hit .308 with 13 kills and a total of 11 blocks (two solo and nine assists), not to mention a service ace.
Junior outside hitter Ali Verzani totaled 11 kills in the match, her 10th consecutive game totaling double figures in kills. Freshman libero Carly Skrabak tallied 12 digs to mark the 22nd time in the past 23 matches hitting double digits in the category. Leading the team in digs was senior utility player Abigail Duncan, who totaled 13 on the night. Sophomore setter Ashley Hand led the match with 38 assists.
Set one seemed to favor the visiting Bruins early on, who built as much as a 9-6 lead, but behind a supportive crowd cheering on the purple and gold for the final time in the building in 2019, Tech rallied, forcing a tied at 9-9. Neither side could break away, tied as far into the set as 19-19.
One attack error by the visitors seemed to spark the Golden Eagles as freshman Emma Osterbur took over the serve. After a second attack error by Belmont gave Tech a 21-19 advantage, a pair of seniors took over the rest of the way to help the purple and gold to a 25-19 win. Outside hitters Emily Brooks and Rachel Thomas each managed a pair of kills to put it away for a 1-0 lead.
Tech carried that momentum into set two, erupting for an early 6-1 advantage. The Bruins pulled to within a point at 9-8, but four straight points helped the Golden Eagles never allow its opponent to get closer than three back. The purple and gold took set two, 25-20 to move to a 2-0 lead.
Set three proved to be an awesome, see-saw battle, with neither side ever gaining more than a three-point advantage. Belmont finally found the daylight it was looking for after forcing a tie at 25-25, edging past Tech to claim the set 28-26.
Motivated by the previous outcome, Tech rallied from an early two-point deficit to set an 8-8 tie. From that point on, the Golden Eagles more than doubled the Bruins' output the rest of the contest, cruising to a 25-16 victory in the clinching set.
Belmont sophomore Mary Catherine Ball and freshman Lauren Walsh each notched 15 kills, followed by junior Halee Van Poppel with 14. Sophomore Carly Mason tallied 34 assists. Van Poppel also posted a double-double with 13 digs in the effort. Sophomore Faith Cobaugh led BU in digs with 14. Van Poppel and newcomer MacKenzie Harless each recorded a solo block.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - In the final match of the year for the Panthers, they faced Southeast Missouri State on senior night and they fell in three sets, (12-25, 13-25, 13-25). For Morgan Matusik, Breanna Jager, Maggie Runge, and Katie Sommer this was their final match as Panthers.
In the opening set, the Panthers started out strong as they would go on 4-0 run. The Redhawks fought back right away as they had a 5-0 run to take the lead back. It was back and forth until SEMO went who both had 3 kills and two blocks.
The second set began with SEMO scoring first. The Panthers kept it close but the Redhawks would go on an 11-0 run to pull ahead creating a safe on an 11-0 run to take control and take the set by 13 points. The Panthers were led by Morgan Matusik and Maggie Runge distance between them and the Panthers. Ultimately SEMO would take set two 25-13. Maggie Runge led the Panthers in that set with four kills. There two lead changes and the score was tied four times.
In the final set, the Redhawks struck first with two points back to back. SEMO took control early on and never let it go as they would go on multiple runs to put a safe difference between them and the Panthers. The Panthers put all they had out on the court but came up short and the Redhawks would take the set and the match to upset the Panthers on senior night.
Laney Malloy recorded a team-high 13 kills and 12 digs for the Redhawks. Tara Beilsmith led the team with 21 digs while Ally Dion added 13. Claire Ochs dished out 29 assists.
The Panthers were led by Maggie Runge with 7 kills, she also tacked on 3 blocks. Bailey Chandler led the team in assists with 15 while Sarah Paluch led the team in digs with 14.