SATURDAY'S SCORES
Morehead State 3, @Eastern Illinois 1 (23-25, 25-13, 25-18, 25-14)
@Austin Peay 3, Belmont 0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-14)
UT Martin 3, @SIUE 2 (22-25, 25-16, 25-12, 21-25, 15-10)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Southeast Missouri 0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21)
MOREHAED STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Morehead State volleyball shook off a close first-set loss to rebound and take down Eastern Illinois 3-1 at Lantz Arena Saturday.
The Eagles won their ninth straight match, improved to 13-9 overall and 9-2 in the OVC. The Eagles lost the opener 25-23 but responded with 25-13, 25-18 and 25-14.
Freshman McKenzee Wagener was nearly flawless in slamming down a career high 15 kills with just three errors for a career-best .462 percentage. Fellow middle Irene Wogenstahl hammered home 11 kills and hit .381, while Olivia Lohmeier also had 11 kills on a .310 percentage.
Wagner and Wogenstahl also had four blocks apiece.
Morehead State had a decisive dig advantage as well with 58 to 43. Allison Whitten came up with a match-high 16 digs, while Taylor Hodges had 10.
Kameryn Sillmon led EIU with 12 kills.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, BELMONT 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - With her 10th kill of the afternoon, graduate student Brooke Moore passed Austin Peay State University alumna Becky Sowinski for third all-time in kills in program history and, following the Govs' three-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (25-12, 25-14, 25-14) over Belmont, is four kills from passing Amy Walk for second all-time.
Moore led the Govs to their fourth-straight sweep with a 12-kill, six-dig performance that saw the Louisville, Kentucky native post her second-highest hitting percentage of the season with a .435 mark.
The Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 advantage early in the first set, but the Govs answered with an 11-1 run to flip the momentum in their favor and took the lead following six service aces and seven kills by junior right-side hitter, Mikayla Powell.
Austin Peay took a 2-0 lead with a 25-14 second-set victory powered by a dominating defensive performance in which the Bruins were held to a .139 hitting percentage.
Moore's 10th kill of the afternoon not only elevated her to third all-time in the Austin Peay record books, but also capped off an 11-0 run to start the match's final set. The Bruins cut the deficit to eight late in the set, but a 3-0 by APSU finished the clean sweep of the Bruins and gave the Govs their 10th OVC victory this season.
The Bruins were led offensively by Mary Catherine Ball, who finished with eight kills on a .538 attack percentage. Lauren Walsh tallied five kills, and Taylor Floyd picked up four kills. Belmont tallied just 2.0 total team blocks on the afternoon.
Belmont opened with a 3-0 run in the first set for the second-straight day and like Friday's match, the Governors quickly answered back. Powered by a trio of Mikayla Powell kills and three Belmont errors, Austin Peay mounted an 11-1 run to take a seven-point lead and force an early Belmont timeout. The Govs controlled the momentum throughout the remainder of the set and took the lead after three service aces by Brooke Moore and seven kills by Powell.
Belmont took an early 3-1 advantage to open the Saturday's penultimate set, but it proved to be the final time the Bruins led in the match. After a 4-0 run, the Govs controlled the lead for the remainder of the set, never allowing BU to cut the deficit to under five following an early timeout. Moore led the Govs with five kills as APSU held the visiting Bruins to a .139 hitting percentage and extended its lead.
After an 11-0 run was capped off by Moore's 1,478th career kill, the Govs cruised to a 25-14 third-set victory and picked up their 10th sweep this season.
UT MARTIN 3, SIUE 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team defeated Ohio Valley Conference rival SIUE for the second time in as many days, posting a 3-2 victory (22-25, 25-16, 25-12, 21-25, 15-10) at First Community Arena.
Setting the tone for the Skyhawks offensively today was Olivia Saunders as the redshirt junior middle blocker out of Ontario, Canada managed a career-best 17 kills on a .382 hitting percentage. The 17 kills were four more than her previous season-high and three more than her prior career-best of 14, which was set when she played for Wake Forest on Oct. 29, 2020.
Logan Wallick and Karen Scanlon joined Saunders in double-digit kills, coming away with 11 and 10, respectively. Scanlon also added a dozen digs for her sixth double-double of the 2021 campaign. Haeleigh Paulino (26 assists, match-high four service aces) and Addy Vaughn (18) shared setter duties today while Dylan Mott (team-best 18 digs) and Zoe Merriweather (team-high five blocks) guided UT Martin defensively.
The Skyhawks (12-13, 8-4 OVC) led 3-0 to start the match but the host Cougars responded with an 8-0 run. After SIUE claimed a 16-10 lead, UT Martin crept back within a single point at 19-18 as an Audrey Haworth service ace capped off an 8-3 run. The Cougars tallied the next three points and despite a pair of late kills from Saunders, SIUE took the 1-0 advantage in the match. Mott made plays all over the court during the first set, registering eight digs.
Scanlon was responsible for a pair of kills and a block assist during the Skyhawks’ first eight points of the second set as UT Martin captured the early momentum. The Skyhawks turned a two-point advantage into a 20-11 lead thanks in large part to a 8-2 run, ending with a Mott service ace. Addison Conley came away with three kills in the span of six UT Martin points down the stretch to help the Skyhawks even the match at 1-all. Conley had four kills with no errors in seven attempts in the second set as UT Martin hit .286 as a team.
The Skyhawks dominated from start to finish in the third stanza, leading by as many as 13 points. Four kills from Saunders during a 10-2 run made the score 13-6 and provided UT Martin with some breathing room midway through the set. Paulino accounted for a pair of service aces and Mott tacked on another one during a 9-2 Skyhawk run, extending UT Martin’s lead out to 22-9. Saunders came away with back-to-back kills late as the Skyhawks took a 2-1 advantage. UT Martin hit .409 with 13 kills and four service aces in the third set as Saunders had six kills on a blazing .714 hitting percentage.
The fourth set included nine tie scores before SIUE battled back to force a fifth stanza. Scanlon (three) and Conley (two) combined for five kills during the Skyhawks’ first six points. Three more UT Martin players dialed up kills over its next five points as the score was evened up at 12-12. Baillie Kearns had a service ace during a 4-1 Skyhawk run that kept the score tied at 18-all but the Cougars scored seven of the last 10 points of the set. Scanlon amassed team-highs of four kills and five digs in the fourth set for UT Martin.
The Skyhawks trailed 6-2 to begin the fifth set but Saunders was a major contributor to a UT Martin offensive attack that hit .562 (10 kills against only one error) in 16 swings. Saunders produced five kills in six attempts – all coming during a seven-point stretch in which she also recorded a block assist. After her heroics, SIUE clawed back to even the score at 9-9 but the Skyhawks wrapped things up on a 6-1 run, including a pair of Wallick kills, two service aces from Paulino and a pair of block assists from Merriweather.
SIUE's Julia Treichel led all players with 17 kills on the afternoon and fell just one dig shy of notching a double-double. Savannah Christian once again proved her formidable skill in attacking position, registering 10 kills, a pair of blocks, and a pair of digs. Annie Ellis notched six total blocks and eight kills, while Jenna Taphorn led the Red & White with an impressive .385 hitting percentage on seven kills. Alyse Drifka once again eclipsed the 30-assist milestone, while Nicole Kijowski recorded a team-best 23 digs.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (18-6, 9-3 OVC) fell at Tennessee Tech (11-11, 6-5 OVC), 25-23, 25-20, 25-21, Saturday evening at the Eblen Center to split the regular-season series.
The loss halted the Redhawks win streak at eight matches.
Colby Greene led the SEMO offense with 12 kills on a .360 clip while Zoey Beasley chipped in 11 kills. Laney Malloy was third on the team with 10 Saturday night to go along with nine digs.
SEMO opened the match with a 6-3 advantage that Tennessee Tech cut to 9-7 after a kill from Taylor Dorsey.
A kill from Talia Gouard coupled with an Ally Dion service ace provided a slight 16-14 lead for the Redhawks.
A Beasley rally stopper made the score 19-18 before a kill from Mackenzie Meehan pushed the edge to 21-19.
Malloy blasted a kill and TTU committed an error to keep the advantage at one (22-21 and 23-22).
The Golden Eagles then claimed the set with three straight points (25-23). Dorsey had back-to-back kills before teaming up with Morgan Gish for a block assist.
Greene had five kills and Beasley added four in the opening set.
The Golden Eagles out hit SEMO, .392 to .333, and led the kill differential 23-14. The Redhawks only committed one error while TTU had three.
In the second frame, Tennessee Tech went up 10-7 to start. The Golden Eagles extended their edge to 16-11 after a 3-0 run.
Kills from Ochs (2) along with an Izzy Lukens ace pulled the Redhawks within two, 22-20.
TTU then grabbed the set with three straight points including kills by Madolyn Isringhausen and Madeline Furtado.
The Golden Eagles hit a match-high .395 in the middle set Saturday. Greene had five kills during the stanza and Ochs chipped in four.
The third set featured 14 ties and five lead changes. Overall, the match totaled 30 ties and nine lead changes.
Early in the third frame, there were tie score lines of 4-4, 5-5 and 9-9.
Kills by Malloy and Beasley widened the SEMO lead to 14-12.
A 4-1 run by TTU switched the lead in favor of the Golden Eagles, 16-15.
Three kills from Beasley made the score 17-16 and then cut the Tennessee Tech lead to 19-18.
Malloy then belted a kill to pull SEMO within two, 22-20 and finally 24-21.
A Redhawks error finalized the match, 25-21.
Ochs dished out 33 assists to complement 11 digs for the double-double outing.
Tara Beilsmith had 10 digs. Dion, Megan Harris, Beasley and Gouard each chipped in five.
TTU outscored the Redhawks, 63-49, and led the kills category, 55-42.
SEMO notched four aces compared to two for the Golden Eagles.
Tennessee Tech out blocked SEMO, 6-3. TTU also led in assists (48-37) while the Redhawks had one more dig (51-50).
Dorsey led the Golden Eagles with 15 kills followed by Madolyn Isringhausen with 14 kills and 13 digs. Gish had 11.
Ashley Hand had a match high 44 assists.