SATURDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 3, Tennessee Tech 1 (20-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16)
@Southeast Missouri 3, Jacksonville State 1 925-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23)
Morehead State 3, @Belmont 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-17)
@Austin Peay 3, SIUE 2 (25-22, 21-25, 22-25, 25-16, 15-9)
@Tennessee State 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-22)
@Murray State 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-16, 25-23, 25-15)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Morehead State (19-6, 10-2 OVC) defeated Belmont (2-25, 1-11) in straight sets, taking the match by scores of 25-13, 25-18, and 25-17.
Morehead State struck a chord with their offense, collecting 50 total kills and averaging 16.67 kills per set. Junior Olivia Lohmeier stole the show with a match-high 16 kills, committing just two errors on 28 swings to hit .500 for the match. Backing Lohmeier, a trio of Eagles—freshman right-side hitter Abby Hulsman, junior outside hitter Lauren Rokey, and sophomore middle blocker Mia Swearingen—each recording eight kills apiece.
Freshman setter Bridget Bessler set the rhythm for the Eagle offense, grooving the team to a .394 team hitting percentage. She passed out 33 of Morehead State's 45 team assists while redshirt junior setter Chandler Clark chipped in five helpers.
Backing the offense, Morehead State's defense dug up 47 balls while turning away five more at the net. Sophomore libero Allison Whitten scooped up a match-best 17 digs, averaging 5.67 digs per set and reaching double-figures for the fourth-straight match. Bessler nearly reached double-digits, recording eight digs.
At the net, six Eagles recorded a block led by sophomore middle blocker Hannah Keating who deterred three shots on the afternoon. Lohmeier and Swearingen added two blocks apiece while Hulsman, Rokey, and redshirt junior right-side hitter Liz Allen tallied one block each.
For the sixth consecutive match, Morehead State landed five or more service aces, pocketing five Saturday against Belmont. Whitten collected four of the team's service aces, combining with Bessler to create the team's total.
Mary Catherne Ball and Halee Van Poppel led the Brins with eight kills each. Ball also notched a team-high nine digs.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, SIUE 2
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Senior outside hitter Jenna Panning rose to the occasion on Senior Day, scoring a career-high 21 kills to lead Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team in a five-set (25-22, 21-25, 23-25, 25-16, 15-9) Ohio Valley Conference victory against SIUE, Saturday, at the Dunn Center.
Trailing 2-1 in the match, Austin Peay (9-17, 7-5 OVC) took control of the fourth set thanks to freshman Tegan Seyring, whose four-kill outburst provided the bulk of the scoring in a 7-2 run that gave Austin Peay an 11-6 lead. The Govs would nurse that five-point advantage until the closing moments when Seyring’s fifth kill of the set off a 3-0 Govs run that pushed the lead to seven points en route to the match-leveling win.
Seyring was again involved as the Govs rallied from a 4-3 deficit in the fifth set. Her first kill gave the Govs a 5-4 lead and her second capped a 6-0 run that proved to be the match-winning run. She would tack on her third and fourth kills later in the set, helping to secure the win.
SIUE (11-13, 6-6 OVC) recovered from an opening set that saw its defense unable to stop the Austin Peay offense, which racked up 18 kills to get out to a 1-0 lead. The Cougars used six blocks in the second set to stymie the Govs offense in a back-and-forth affair that featured nine ties and five lead changes. In the third, SIUE rallied from a 10-3 deficit, tying the set at 18-18. The teams traded points to 22-22 before SIUE won three of the last four to claim a 2-1 match lead.
Panning’s 21-kill performance was the fourth 20-kill outing by a Governors hitter this season. She did her best work in the first and third sets, opening the match with six kills before a seven-kill effort in the third. Seyring finished with 10 kills, posting five in the fourth and four in the fifth set. Junior Chloe Stitt added 18 kills as Austin Peay outhit SIUE, 72-59.
Rachel McDonald led SIUE with a 13-kill, 15-dig double-double performance. Hope Everett and Gabby Wimes chipped in 12 kills each. The Cougars finished the match with 16 blocks, Everett leading the defensive effort with seven stops.
UT MARTIN 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
MARTIN, Tenn.- The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team sided out at a 75 percent clip over the final three sets today, soaring to a 3-1 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Tennessee Tech (20-25, 25-15, 25-15, 25-16) at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
UT Martin hit .283 for the match but improved that number to .330 in the last three stanzas. On the flipside, the Skyhawks allowed a paltry .085 attack percentage over the final three sets to improve their record to 6-6 in OVC play (10-17 overall).
Gintare Mackeviciute was nearly unstoppable this afternoon, putting away 15 kills against just one error in 24 swings for a .583 hitting percentage. Logan Wallick pitched in 14 kills while Kenzie Hinshaw’s 43 assists also helped carry the UT Martin offense.
Defensively, the Skyhawks received a match-best 13 digs out of Lucy Kaufman. Addison Conley (12 digs) and Hannah Phillips (11) followed closely behind while five of Justine Walker’s match-high six blocks came in the third set.
Tennessee Tech (10-15, 6-6 OVC) accounted for the first five points of the match but UT Martin quickly got back in it courtesy of a 7-1 run that gave the Skyhawks their first lead at 9-8. The Golden Eagles answered right back with a 7-1 spurt of their own but Conley later managed three straight kills for UT Martin to keep the score close. Tennessee Tech later scored four unanswered points and the Skyhawks would not get any closer than five points for the duration of the set.
UT Martin evened the match after siding out at 81 percent in the second stanza. The Skyhawks gained the upper hand with three of the first four points and eventually used a 5-0 run to create some separation. Haeleigh Paulino was responsible for a pair of service aces during that span, helping UT Martin eventually double up the Golden Eagles at 22-11. Mackeviciute delivered three kills in the span of five points while a Wallick kill clinched the set for the Skyhawks.
Following a Tennessee Tech kill that started the third set, UT Martin dialed up nine of the next 10 points to seize control. After the Golden Eagles pulled within two points at 9-7, the Skyhawks responded with four of the next five points behind kills from Conley, Mackeviciute and Hinshaw. UT Martin’s lead was trimmed to 13-10 but the Skyhawks concluded the set on a 12-5 run which included three consecutive points recorded via blocks.
The fourth set included 10 tie scores before UT Martin emerged victorious. Neither side could manage more than a two-point lead until a pair of Mackeviciute kills bookended a 4-0 Skyhawk run that nudged UT Martin ahead by a 17-13 margin. In addition to Mackeviciute’s dominant stretch, the Skyhawks also received a pair of Wallick rally killers down the stretch as UT Martin turned a 13-13 tie into a 25-16 victory.
Ali Verzani led the Golden Eagles with 18 kills and 13 digs.
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball cruised to victory over Eastern Illinois, Saturday night in three sets, to earn their third straight win and improve to 15-9 overall and 9-3 in the OVC.
As a team the Racers had one of their best offensive performances of the season, hitting .349. Rachel Holthaus led the way with a .667 percentage and 11 kills while Rachel Giustino had a game-high 20 kills while hitting .514. Megan Lindsay also had a solid performance with nine kills while hitting .375.
Callie Anderton dished out 43 assists while Becca Fernandez anchored the back row with 17 digs, limiting EIU to just a .146 hitting percentage.
The first set was all Racers as they hit .316 compared to just .029 for the Panthers. Already out to a 6-3 lead, a 3-0 run double the MSU lead to 9-3, which proved to be more than enough cushion, as they Racers took the set, 25-16, clinching the set on back-to-back kills by Giustino.
The second set looked to be another easy win for the Racers as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but Eastern Illinois slowly climbed back into the set and eventually took an 18-17 lead after a 4-0 run. The two teams traded points until it was all square at 23 before a kill by Lindsay and an error by the Panthers gave the set to Murray State, 25-23.
The final set was similar to the first as the Racers jumped out to a lead and never gave it up. The set was still close at 14-12 until a 7-0 run by MSU put the game away. After trading a couple of points, Lindsay and Giustino recorded two straight kills to secure the victory in the set, 25-15, and the match.
Katie Sommer led the Panthers with eight kills while Madison Cunningham notched a team-high 16 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri defeated visiting Jacksonville State in four sets (25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23) to win its sixth straight match. The Redhawks improved to 18-8 overall and 10-2 in the OVC while the Gamecocks dropped to 15-9 overall and 9-3 in league play.
Southeast Missouri's Laney Malloy recorded a double-dobule with 12 kills and a team-best 11 digs. Mikayla Kuhlmann led the team with 14 kills while Krista berns added 12 kills on a .625 hitting percentage. Claire Ochs dished out 45 assist.
Jacksonville State had four players reach double-digit in kills with Kaylee Frear leading the way with 15. Kaylie Milton had 12 kills and 13 digs while Leana Kindermann added 11 and Shayla Schmidt had 10. Erin Carmichael led all players with 21 digs while Lexi Libs recorded a match-high 47 assist.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team fell in straight sets to Tennessee State University Saturday night in Nashville.
The Colonels lost 19-25, 24-26 and 22-25.
Abby Noll paced the Colonels offense posting a match-best 14 kills to go with eight digs. Jovana Bulatovic chipped in eight kills of her own.
Eastern jumped out to an early 7-3 lead in the opening set after the kill by Noll. Tennessee State answered back though going on a 5-0 run to take an 8-7 lead over the Colonels. With the set tied 12-12, TSU used another 4-0 run after the kill by Jasmine Fuqua to take a 16-12 lead in the opening set. Eastern answered back with a 4-0 run of its own to tie the set at 16-16 after back-to-back kills by Katelynn Caserma-Kloeble. Again TSU responded with a 5-1 run to take a 21-17 lead. The Tigers scored four of the last six points to take the opening set 25-19.
In set two, the Tigers took control early and jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the set. But Eastern kept chipping away and tied the set at 24-24 after a 4-0 run capped off by a Raegan Alexander kill. Tennessee State answered back though scoring the last two points of the set to win the set 26-24 and take a 2-0 lead.
In set three, the Colonels jumped out to an early 7-4 lead after the kill by Noll. TSU responded with an 8-1 run to give the Tigers a 12-8 lead in the third set. The Colonels kept chipping away but could not tie the set until 20-20 after back-to-back kills by Noll. With the set tied 22-22, TSU scored the last three points of the set to complete the sweep 25-22.
Julia Pierson led the way for the Tigers with a team-best 13 kills and 14 digs. Aniya Williams chipped in 11 kills of her own.