FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, UT Martin 0 (25-23, 25-17, 27-25)
@Murray State 3, Tennessee Tech 0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-21)
@Southeast Missouri 3, SIUE 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17)
Austin Peay 3, @Tennessee State 0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-23)
@Belmont 3, Eastern Illinois 2 (18-25, 20-25, 26-24, 27, 25, 25-13)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
MOREHEAD, KY. - Morehead State volleyball ran its winning streak to six matches, and grad student Olivia Lohmeier became just the fifth-ever player in Ohio Valley Conference history to reach 1,800 career kills, as the Eagles defeated UT Martin in straight sets Friday night at Johnson Arena.
The Homecoming weekend triumph was the fourth straight for MSU over UTM and the 20th in the last 23 times the two teams have played. The Eagles jumped UTM in the OVC race as well, moving to 6-2 and 10-9 overall. The Skyhawks dipped to 6-3 in the league and 10-12 overall.
MSU won the opener 25-23, which included 18 ties and nine lead changes, and cruised to a 25-17 win in the second. UTM actually stared at set point (24-23) in the third before the home team shook it off to outscore their foe 4-1 in the final five points to secure the straight set win.
Lohmeier landed 12 kills tonight to move her career total to 1,811. Her teammate, sophomore Abby Hulsman, bested her by one kill with 13, while freshmen Maycie Welborn and McKenzee Wagener contributed eight terminations apiece. Wagner hit .467 with four blocks as well.
Morehead State was dealing with the top blocking team in the league but stayed close in the net defense category. UTM had eight team blocks, while MSU secured seven turn-aways.
Back row defense was highlighted by junior libero Allison Whitten with 21 digs, her seventh match of 20+ digs.
Freshman setter Brenna Bommer, who had started several matches earlier this season due to an injury, ran the offense solo again tonight and handed out 40 assists on the Eagles' 48 kills. MSU nearly doubled the Skyhawks on kill totals, 48-29.
Addison Conley led the Skyhawks with 10 kills ehile Haeleigh Paulino noteched a double-dobule with 13 assists and a team-best 13 digs.
The teams will go at it again on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET.
MURRAY STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team lost its first Ohio Valley Conference road match of the season Friday evening, falling to longtime rival Murray State 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-21) at Racer Arena.
The Racers came out firing in the match, hitting .308 and making it tough for the Golden Eagles to keep pace throughout the night. Tech did record 9.5 blocks as a team, but the Murray State offense proved just too hot in the match.
The purple and gold got off to a fast start in the first set, jumping out by as much as seven points at 14-7. The home team answered back, however, settling in and squaring things at 19-19. Murray State went on to post a 6-2 run to take the opening set, 25-21.
The two sides fought back-and-forth in the second set, tying things at 10-10. The Racers entered another gear from that point, producing a 6-0 run to gather the distance from Tech necessary to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Murray won the game, 25-18.
The Golden Eagles nearly erased a late, four-point deficit in the third set, pulling to within one point at 19-18. Murray State held off the charge, however, taking the set 25-21 to win the match 3-0.
Alexas Harris had a team-best 17 kills while Kolby McClelland and Brooke Lynn Watts each had nine. Becca Fernandez had 11 digs while Bailey DeMier dished out 39 assists.
Leading the offense for the Tech squad in the match was outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen, posting 11 kills on a .286 attack percentage. She added four digs and three blocks to the mix, finishing with a team-high 13.5 points.
On the defensive side of the ball, middle blocker Skylar Boom paced the Golden Eagles with six block assists, chipping in four kills on offense. Libero McKenna Young totaled a team-high 11 digs while adding one of Tech's five service aces.
Tech will square off with the Racers one more time Saturday afternoon in a 2:00 p.m. tilt in Murray, Ky.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, SIUE 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (16-5, 7-2 OVC) extended its win streak to six matches with a 25-19, 25-19, 25-17, sweep of SIUE (5-14, 2-6 OVC) Friday night in its series opener at Houck Field House.
SEMO compiled its ninth 3-0 sweep in 2021 and fifth in Ohio Valley Conference play Friday to commence the home series against SIUE.
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks offense with 20 kills on .486 hitting clip with seven digs and three aces. Zoey Beasley, the reigning OVC Offensive Player of the Week, chipped in 12 kills on a .400 rate and Colby Greene finished with six.
SEMO opened the match with a 6-1 advantage in the first set. Consecutive kills from Claire Ochs and Beasley along with a Cougars error pushed the margin to 9-3.
Malloy and Greene then compiled back-to-back rally stoppers before a SIUE miscue provided SEMO a 15-9 lead.
The Cougars hit a pair of errors to make the scoreboard read 17-12.
Beasley and Greene then registered rally stoppers prior to a SIUE error as SEMO came within one point of set point (23-17).
Greene added another kill followed by a Cougars attack error as the Redhawks claimed the opening set, 25-19.
SEMO continued its fast start to sets with an 11-4 lead in the second stanza.
A kill from Beasley increased the edge to 16-11.
Malloy then slammed a kill off a feed by Megan Harris along with a SIUE error to make the advantage, 18-12.
Malloy had eight kills in the second frame on a .636 clip and added two more to bookend an Ochs rally stopper to put the score at 21-15.
Beasley connected on a kill after a SIUE error to make it set point at 24-18.
Mackenzie Meehan then posted a kill to increase the SEMO lead to 2-0 with a 25-19 second set.
The Redhawks had a match-high .282 in the final frame and concluded the evening with a .262 rate.
SIUE hit a .081 Friday including a .000 in the first set and .032 in the final set.
Holding a slight 6-5 lead, SEMO went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead, 12-5, in the third set.
Consecutive kills from Malloy widened the gap to 14-8.
Beasley then added a pair of kills to start a 5-1 rally for the Redhawks to make the advantage 22-14. She had five (.500) of her 12 kills during the frame.
Malloy (2) and Greene then notched kills to claim the victory with a 25-17 final set.
Malloy had nine kills in the third stanza on a .471.
Ochs dished out 33 assists and seven digs as SEMO hit at a rate of .262. She also had four kills including one from libero Tara Beilsmith.
Beilsmith led the defense with 13 digs and six assists. Harris had nine digs while Beasley and Ally Dion each had three.
Annie Ellis led SIUE with eight kills while Julie Treichel had seven kills and nine digs. Alyse Drifka finished with 16 assists and Nicole Kijowski accumulated 12 digs.
SEMO outscored the Cougars, 50-40, and led kills, 44-27.
SIUE had a slight advantage in aces, 5-4, and out blocked the Redhawks, 8-2.
SEMO closes out the series with the Cougars Saturday evening at 7 p.m., CT at Houck Field House after the Redhawks football game with Murray State (2 p.m.).
AUSTIN PEAY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.- Austin Peay State University's volleyball team picked up its ninth-straight win over Tennessee State with a three-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (25-18, 25-19, 25-23) at Kean Hall that saw graduate student Brooke Moore become the Governors all-time leader in matches played.
Moore entered the weekend series against the Tigers tied with APSU alumna Sammie Ebright (2013-16) for most matches played in a career and passed the mark with her start against TSU, Friday
After the three-set victory, Moore is tied with Stephanie Garrard (1990-93) for most sets played in a career with 498.
The Govs offense was led by junior right-side hitter Mikayla Powell, whose 11 kills marked the fourth-straight match the reigning OVC Newcomer of the Week has reached the double-digit kill mark this season. Powell's .476 hitting percentage against the Tigers was the fifth time she has posted over .400 in a match this year.
Tennesee State was led by Aleksandra Rojecka with 12 hills and Aniya Williams with 11. Gina Rivera Ortiz had a team-best 13 digs.
After a season-high 12 service aces against Murray State Wednesday, the Govs had seven aces against Tennessee State and were led by three apiece from Moore and Marlayna Bullington. It is the eighth time this season Austin Peay has posted seven more aces in a match.
Austin Peay looks to finish its weekend sweep of the Tigers at noon, Saturday.
Four players posted three or more kills in a first set that never saw Austin Peay trail. The Govs finished on a 3-0 run to take the early lead and posted a .405 hitting percentage in the set.
After battling back and forth early in the second set, the Govs used a 7-1 run to take a 17-12 lead and propel them to a 25-19 victory.
Austin Peay held a 20-15 advantage late in the third set, but a 7-3 run by the Tigers saw the Govs' lead trimmed to just one. Kaylah Jackson's ninth kill of the afternoon gave APSU the two-point lead and forced Tennessee State to call their final timeout, but Jaida Clark sealed the win with her ninth kill.
BELMONT 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Friday evening saw a hard fought battle from the Eastern Illinois (7-11, 0-8 OVC) volleyball team as they drop their first match of the weekend in five sets against the Bruins of Belmont University (7-12, 5-4 OVC), 3-2. The scores were as followed for the match: 25-18, 25-20, 24-26, 25-27, 13-15. Eastern has lost their last eight matches in conference play.
The first set saw success for the Panthers are they won 25-18. EIU was up 20-11 midway through the set, and would close out the Bruins with a service ace by Summerlyn Smith. Danielle Allen had six kills in the first while posting a .455 hitting percentage, and two block assists. Smith started her night off with seven assists and two service aces. The Panthers collected four service aces in the set. Belmont was led by Lauren Walsh with four kills and Laura Shoopman with two block assists.
EIU collected their second set win of the night in the second by a score of 25-20. They led early in the set by a score of 9-3, and again 21-15. They would go on to close out the set with a kill from Kameryn Sillmon. Allen came through again in the second with five kills and a .444 hitting percentage. Christina Martinez Mundo added five digs in the set and the team collected four blocks. The Panthers held Belmont to a .158 hitting percentage in the set. They were led by Mary Catherine Ball with five kills and Carly Mason with six assists.
Belmont collected their first set in the third by a score of 26-14. The Bruins took a early 5-0 lead on the Panthers, but they fought back to eventually tie it at 19-19. Shoopman would go on to hit the set winning kill. TaKenya Stafford collected seven kills in the set for the Panthers, while Sillmon added three more block assists to the Panthers total. Belmont was led by Shoopman in the third with seven kills and Peyton Kelley with seven digs.
The fourth saw the Bruins tie the match up at two a piece with a score of 27-25. Throughout the set there was 11 ties, but Belmont broke through to win by two points late. Stafford and Allen both collected six kills, Bailey Chandler helped the offense with seven assists, and Annika Black helped defensively with four block assists. Taylor Floyd had nine kills in the set for the Bruins and Mason added 15 assists to help Belmont win the set.
Ultimately, EIU came just short to capturing their first conference win after losing the last set 15-13. The Panthers tied the last set up at 13-13, but the Bruins finished the night off with a kill by Ball. Allen had three kills in the final and Kylie Michael added three digs. Belmont was led by Floyd and Shoopman with three kills in each in the final set.
The Bruins saw Floyd have 19 kills and 14 digs, Shoopman with 17 kills and three block assists, and Mason with 47 assists. Belmont improves their record to 7-12 on the season with a 5-4 record in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Eastern Illinois was led by Allen with 24 kills and four block assists, Stafford with 20 kills and 14 digs, Smith with 31 assists, and Emily Wilcox with five block assists and one block solo. The Panthers fall to 7-11 and 0-8 in the OVC.
EIU is back tomorrow afternoon Saturday, Oct. 16 at 4 p.m. at Belmont to finish their weekend trip to Nashville, Tenn