TUESDAY'S SCORES
@Western Kentucky 3,
Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-18)
Evansville 3,
@Tennessee State 0 (25-23, 25-23, 25-22)
Lipscomb 3,
@Belmont 1 (21-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-20)
@Southern Illinois 3,
Southeast Missouri 2 (20-25, 25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 17-15)
WESTERN KENTUCKY 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team fell in straight sets to in-state rival Western Kentucky University Tuesday night in Bowling Green.
The Colonels lost 25-13, 25-14 and 25-18.
Senior Rachel Woody posted seven kills, 11 assists and four digs. Jovana Bulatovic chipped in five kills of her own.
After trading points to start the match, Western scored five straight points to take a 7-2 lead over Eastern. Katelynn Caserma-Kloeble answered with a kill to cut the lead to 10-4, but the Colonels could never get any closer. Western won the set after a kill by Paige Briggs.
In set two, Eastern scored the first point but the Hilltoppers scored the next seven points of the game to take control of the set. Eastern scored three straight points after three straight kills by Bulatovic and Mikayla Logan to cut the lead to 16-10. WKU answered with a 6-0 run to take a 22-10 lead, before winning 25-14.
Eastern jumped out to an early 4-2 lead in set three after a kill by Abby Noll. WKU scored six of the next seven points to take an 8-5 lead. Western moved in front 17-10, but the Colonels did not go down without a fight. EKU cut the lead, 23-18, after a kill by Woody. However, Western scored the last two points to take the set.
Sophomore Lauren Matthews led Western with 12 kills and three digs.
Eastern returns to the court Friday against Seton Hall in Akron, Ohio. First serve is scheduled for 4 p.m..
LIPSCOMB 3, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - In this year's edition of the Battle of the Boulevard, an early lead for Belmont Volleyball would not be enough to seal the victory on Tuesday evening. The Bruins (1-7) were held off by Lipscomb (2-4), 3-1, in the Curb Event Center.
Belmont jumped out to a hot start in the opening stanza, taking a 10-4 lead that forced the Bisons to call for an early timeout. The Bruins extended their run to 7-0 before Lipscomb was able to notch a point. BU would not let up and by the midpoint of the set was ahead by 10 points, 17-7, after kills by juniors MacKenzie Harless (Brownsburg, Ind.) and Halee Van Poppel (Argyle, Texas). A stunned LU bench called for a break in the action in an attempt to regroup. BU continued to push and would cross the 20-point threshold before Lipscomb reached double digits. Finally, the Bisons were able to make a move late and use a 6-2 run to trim the score to 22-16. Belmont burned both of its timeouts during the flurry, looking to settle down and secure the final points for the set victory. Lipscomb continued to chip away at the Bruin lead down the stretch but it would be too little too late as BU held on for the 25-21 win.
LU looked to avenge its slow start from the whistle in set two, pulling ahead with the help of a 6-1 run. Belmont called its first timeout, trailing 8-2. After the brief break, the Bruins put together a 4-0 run to inch within two points, 8-6. However, the Bisons surged again behind another run and went up, 14-7. BU went on to call for its final timeout of the frame. The Bruins began clawing away at the point differential and moved as close as eight points before Lipscomb held on for the 25-15 win.
The already brewing back and forth battle marked the first points of the third set before Belmont settled in and took the lead, 11-5, thanks to kills by Van Poppel, Harless and freshman Lauren Walsh (Torrance, Calif.). After calling for a timeout, the Bisons came out hot and used a scoring run to make it a two-point frame, 12-11. Belmont was forced to call for a timeout but quickly rallied to knot the score, 14-14. Lipscomb attempted to pull away again but the Bruins continued their slow and steady rally and pushed to knot the score, 20-20. After calling for a strategy session, BU forced four scoring stalemates before the Bisons called for a timeout. However, Belmont was unable to keep the momentum up in the waning points and fell, 26-24.
The fourth set saw began with the long-time foes trading points, with neither able to create a distance of more than two points at a time. Finally, the Bisons used a flurry of kills to take a 15-11 lead and BU responded with its second timeout of the frame. Belmont succeed in trimming the lead down and staying within striking distance through the midpoint of the set before the Bisons pulled away again by as many as six points, 19-13. The Bruins surged once again and pushed back LU, who stood at the door of set point. After rolling off four consecutive points, BU was only trailing 24-20. Lipscomb called for a timeout to regroup and was able to put the set away after the brief break, 25-20.
For the match, Walsh led the Bruins with 11 kills. Junior Akia Warrior (Fort Worth, Texas) finished with 36 assists while sophomore Peyton Kelley (Normal, Ill.) posted a career-best 24 digs. Freshman Kailee Bass (Aurora, Ill.) recorded a match-high three block assists.
Belmont returns to action this weekend with a road trip to the Sunshine State. The Bruins will play in the River City Rumble, co-hosted by former Atlantic Sun foes North Florida and Jacksonville
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
CARBONDALE, Ill. - Colby Greene blasted a personal best 20 kills and Tara Beilsmith posted a career high 25 digs as Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-3) was outlasted by regional rival Southern Illinois (4-3) in five sets (25-20, 22-25, 25-13, 16-25, 15-17) Tuesday evening at Davies Gym.
Annie Wehrheim who played club volleyball at Davies Gym with Southern Illinois Select and previously was a member of John A. Logan College in Carterville, Illinois, had 11 kills.
Laney Malloy also had 11 kills with 16 digs for her third double-double of 2019. Claire Ochs dished out 39 assists with 20 digs for her fourth double-double of the season.
Southeast captured the opening set and the third set while the Salukis were the victors in the second, fourth and fifth sets.
The fifth and final set like the first (eight ties) and second (12 ties) was highly competitive and featured 11 ties.
Rally stoppers from Greene and Talia Gouard coupled with a Salukis attack error gave the Redhawks an early 4-3 lead.
Southern Illinois then responded with kills from Rachel Maguire and Savannah Sheridan to bring on the changeover with the Salukis leading, 8-5.
With a new change of scenery in the fifth set, Southeast rallied off four straight points to pull ahead 9-8. Malloy hit a kill before placing an ace. Wehrheim then added a kill and capped off the rally with a block assist with Gouard.
Wehrheim blasted kills to knot the set at 10-10 and 11-11.
Greene added a winner for another tie score line at 12-12. She then brought the set in favor of Southeast twice with two more kills, 14-13 and 15-14.
SIU then evened the set for the final time on a block by Maguire and Lindsey Paulsen. The Salukis then closed out the match with kills from Sheridan and Maguire.
In the opening set, Southeast connected with 15 kills to take an early lead on the road.
Southern Illinois evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 second set.
The Redhawks then hit a match-high .269 clip in the third set as Ally Dion was instrumental at the service line, serving for 11 points down the stretch. She finished the match with a career best six service aces with four coming in the third set.
The Salukis then forced a fifth set with a 25-16 fourth set.
SEMO out blocked SIU, 12-8. Maggie Adams and Gouard paced the team with five each.
Southeast next competes in its third tournament of the season at the Panthers Invitational in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 13-14. The Redhawks open the tournament on Friday at 12:30 p.m. against Milwaukee which is the alma mater of head coach Julie Yankus before facing Western Michigan at 5 p.m. SEMO closes out the Invitational against Butler at noon on Saturday.
EVANSVILLE 3, TENNNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee State fell to visiting Evansville in three sets (25-23, 25-23, 25-22) on Tuesday night.
Julia Pierson led the Tigers with 10 kills and 13 digs. Gina Rivera Ortiz recorded a team-high 21 digs. Teuila Lolotia and Kristian Marshall each had 13 assists.
Tennessee State will travel to the New Orleans Invitational this weekend.