FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Southeast Missouri 3, Austin Peay 0 (25-9, 25-18, 25-19)
@UT Martin 3, Tennessee Tech 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20)
Murray State 3, @Belmont 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-21)
@Morehead State 3, SIUE 2 (25-13, 19-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-14)
Eastern Illinois 3, Tennessee State 2 (25-18, 24-26, 23, 25, 25-20, 15-12)
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (20-6, 11-3 OVC) downed Austin Peay (17-9, 10-3 OVC), 25-9, 25-18, 25-19, Friday night at Houck Field House to leap frog the Governors in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
With the 3-0 sweep Friday, SEMO secured the regular-season series over Austin Peay. The Redhawks notched their 11th, 3-0 sweep of the season and now have 20 victories on the campaign.
SEMO last registered 20 wins in 2019, finishing with an overall mark of 23-11.
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks offense with 17 kills with eight digs on a .424 hitting percentage. Zoey Beasley added 13 kills and five digs on a rate of .344. Colby Greene finished with eight rally stoppers and Talia Gouard had five.
SEMO opened the match with a 10-1 advantage. The Redhawks then widened the gap to 22-5 after a 10-0 rally.
Malloy had four kills during the sequence including consecutive ones.
Austin Peay came as close as 22-9 after a 4-0 run that featured back-to-back kills from Brooke Moore.
Greene, Gouard and Malloy all then belted kills down the stretch as SEMO grabbed the opening frame, 25-9.
SEMO hit a match-best .552 in the opening set as Malloy tallied six kills and Greene posted four. Friday's opening set directly contrasted Thursday's wild, marathon first stanza of 35-33.
In the second set, the Redhawks once again started fast with a 12-6 advantage after a Beasley winner.
Beasley added another before a Govs error made it 15-10 at the media timeout.
SEMO then strung together a 5-1 run to push its lead to 21-13. Malloy hit a kill before an Ally Dion service ace during the sequence.
The Governors cut the deficit to 21-17 after a 4-0 run before the Redhawks scored four of the last five points to claim the frame.
Malloy and Beasley each had five kills during the set as SEMO hit at a rate of .323.
In the third set, SEMO commenced with a 10-6 edge that went to 15-10 after a Beasley kill.
Malloy belted a kill to make the score 17-13.
Beasley added a kill before Megan Harris placed an ace to extend the advantage to 20-16.
Moore hit a kill before a SEMO error cut the margin to 22-19.
Greene then knocked consecutive kills before a final rally stopper by Malloy secured the sweep, 25-19.
SEMO outhit Austin Peay, .371 to .101 in the dominating match. The Governors opened the match with percentages of .031 and .047 in the opening two sets.
APSU finished with .235 in the third period.
Claire Ochs dished out 36 assists and 12 digs. Tara Beilsmith paced the SEMO defense with 16 digs.
Beasley and Kayla Closset each chipped in five digs and Gouard had four.
The Redhawks outscored APSU, 55-37, and led every category except blocks.
Kills favored SEMO, 48-28.
Moore led the Governors with nine kills and 13 digs. Kelsey Mead and Janvier Buggs each had eight assists with three digs. Caroline Waite finished with six assists.
Erin Eisenhart grabbed eight digs with four assists.
UT MARTIN 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - – A season-high hitting percentage led to a sweep for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball squad over Tennessee Tech (25-20, 25-18, 25-22) this evening at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
The Skyhawks hit .302 as a team, breezing past their previous season-high of .290 against Eastern Illinois on Oct. 2. UT Martin slammed down 44 kills against just 12 errors in 106 swings, rolling to its fourth consecutive victory in the all-time series against the Golden Eagles.
Karen Scanlon led the charge for the Skyhawks as the senior from Scottsdale, Ariz. collected a match-high 11 kills with just one error for a .435 attack percentage. Olivia Saunders posted eight kills on a .333 hitting percentage to go along with a match-best seven blocks while Logan Wallick (eight kills), Haeleigh Paulino (19 assists) and Addy Vaughn (10 assists) played big for UT Martin.
Dylan Mott came away with a team-high nine digs while Baillie Kearns scooped up seven digs for the Skyhawks, who improved to 13-13 overall with a 9-4 Ohio Valley Conference record.
UT Martin’s offensive attack was blazing from the start as the Skyhawks hit .412 with 16 kills in the opening set. After Tennessee Tech (11-13, 6-7 OVC) took a 5-2 advantage, UT Martin responded with an 8-1 run that included kills from Saunders, Addison Conley, Vaughn and Wallick. The Golden Eagles took a brief 13-12 lead but Scanlon came right back with three straight kills to flip the score back in favor of the Skyhawks, who concluded the set with five of the final six points. Scanlon (six kills) and Saunders (five kills) each did not commit an error in the first set, combining for a .733 hitting percentage.
The Skyhawks trailed early in the second set but quickly turned things around as a 10-3 run led to a 12-6 UT Martin advantage. The Golden Eagles got back within two points at 15-13 but an Olivia Lucia kill ignited a 5-0 run that was capped off by Mott’s second service ace of the set. Saunders then had a say in three of the Skyhawks’ next four points (two kills and a service ace) before a Vaughn kill provided UT Martin with a 2-0 lead in the match. Saunders paced the Skyhawks both offensively (team-best three kills) and defensively (match-high five blocks) in the second stanza.
The third set included 12 ties and four lead changes but UT Martin was able to put Tennessee Tech away in convincing fashion. Lucia registered back-to-back kills for the Skyhawks early but a 7-3 Golden Eagle run resulted in a 13-11 UT Martin deficit. The Skyhawks immediately followed with a 5-1 surge, beginning with a kill from Paulino. The score was eventually knotted at 21-all but UT Martin reeled off three straight kills coming out of a timeout as Wallick, Lucia and Conley each posted rally killers. Moments later, Scanlon completed her successful night with a kill on match point to give the Skyhawks the victory. Conley was a perfect 4-for-4 on kills-to-swings ratio while tacking on a team-best four digs in the final set.
MURRAY STATE 3, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers volleyball (13-9, 7-5 OVC) defeated the Belmont Bruins (8-15, 6-7 OVC) in straight sets, 25-20, 25-20, 25-21, on Friday night at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
The match only lasted an hour and five minutes as the Racers made quick work of the Bruins, hitting .242 over the three sets while holding Belmont to .080.
The Racers extended their winning streak to five as they picked up their first road win in conference play.
Brooke Lynn Watts and Jayla Holcombe combined for 27 kills of the Racers' 41 kills which Watts holding a slight advantage with 14 to Holcombe's 13.
Holcombe was on fire tonight with her 13 kills and only one error to hit .667, a career-high.
At the net, Kolby McClelland picked up one solo block and three block assists while putting down nine kills.
Setter Bailey DeMier paced the Racers with 34 assists and libero Becca Fernandez led the defensive with nine digs.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, SIUE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Visiting SIUE Volleyball gave Morehead State everything it had at Johnson Arena Friday night, but in the end it was the Eagles who persevered for the come-from-behind 3-2 victory to vault MSU into first place in the Ohio Valley Conference with its 11th consecutive victory.
MSU (15-9/11-2 OVC) came out with all cylinders on fire in the first set with 19 kills and just one error in a 25-13 triumph. But, the Cougars (5-19/2-11 OVC) made adjustments and proceeded to take a 2-1 advantage by winning set two 25-19 and set three 25-23. SIUE had match point in the fourth at 24-23, but Eagles Olivia Lohmeier and Maycie Welborn prevented that with three kills for a 26-24 win. MSU then smashed in 10 kills on its way to a 15-4 match-clincher in the finale. The Eagles are now 4-2 in matches that go the distance.
Morehead State had a decisive advantage in kills (72-52) but the Cougars' net defense turned back 11 blocks, limiting the Eagles to less than .200 hitting in sets two through four.
Sophomore setter Bridget Bessler came within one kill of a triple-double, which would have been only the ninth in program history and first since 2017. She finished with a career-high nine kills on a .300 attack night, 54 assists and 12 digs for her ninth double-double of the year.
Lohmeier concluded the match with a team-high 18 kills and hit .235, while freshman Maycie Welborn performed her finest as an Eagle with a career-high 15 kills, three blocks and a .379 hitting clip with just four errors off the right side. Sophomore Abby Hulsman (11) and freshman McKenzee Wagener (10) also reach double-digit kills. Freshman Irene Wogenstahl also had nine kills, nearly giving all players who registered kills double-digit spikes tonight.
MSU's back row came up with 76 digs, led by junior libero Allison Whitten with 18. Sophomore Andrea Grimes (12), along with senior Taylor Hodges (11) and junior Olivia Montelisciani (11) also scooped double-digit Cougar attempts.
The match featured 26 ties and 10 lead changes. SIUE was led by Savannah Christian and Julia Treichel with 12 kills apiece. Jessica Vineyard and Annie Ellis had five blocks each.
The teams will put the wraps on the weekend series Saturday at 11 a.m. ET.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (9-14, 2-11 OVC) comes back down 2-1 to defeat the Lady Tigers of Tennessee State (9-13, 1-12 OVC) 3-2. These were the set scores for the match: 25-18, 24-26, 23-25, 25-20, 15-12. This is the first time the Panthers have won back-to-back games since defeating Alabama State and USC Upstate in the Southern Illinois Saluki Tournament.
The Panthers handled the Lady Tigers in the first set winning 25-20. EIU out hit Tennessee State .176 to -0.29. Danielle Allen led the way for Eastern as she collected five kills in the first set. Summerlyn Smith started her career night off with 10 assists in the first. Ashley Sharkus also had six digs. TSU was led by Kendall Washington who had three kills, and Aria Holmes added two block assists in the set.
In a close second set, the Lady Tigers edged out the Panthers by a score of 24-26. Tennessee State clawed out to a 5-0, but the Panthers fought back the whole set. Allen continued to play aggressive on offense as she collected seven more kills, while Smith added 10 more assists. Ella Collins also provided four kills. TSU had two Lady Tigers collect four kills with Holmes and Aleksandra Rojecka. TSU held EIU to a .000 hitting percentage.
Tennessee State took the lead in the third as they defeated the Panthers 23-25. Defense was key for the Tigers as they had eight team blocks in the third set. EIU was held to just a .159 hitting percentage in the set. Ireland Hieb collected eight kills while Smith added 14 to her total. Kameryn Sillmon also had three kills. The Lady Tigers were led by Rayna Williams with four kills and Aniya Williams with four kills.
With the Panthers facing defeat, EIU picked up their second set win in the fourth winning 25-20. Posting a .233 hitting percentage, the Panthers as a team had 14 kills in the set. Collins had five while Hieb had four for EIU. The Panthers had four blocks in the fourth. Tennessee State saw Homes, Rojecka, and Mion Weldon all have three kills in the set.
The winning continued into the final set as EIU outlasted the Lady Tigers 15-12. Elisavet Papageorgiou and Hieb had two key blocks in the fifth that gave momentum to the Panthers. Collins added two kills while Smith had six assists. TSU's Kristian Marshall had three assists while A. Williams collected two kills. EIU would go on to win 3-2.
Tennessee State was led by A. Williams with 12 kills and four block assists, Holmes with 10 kills and four block assists, and Weldon with eight kills and six block assists. The Lady Tigers drop to 9-13 on the season with an 1-12 record in the OVC.
EIU improves to 9-14 on the year, and moving up in the OVC with a 2-11 record. They were led by Allen with 17 kills and three block assists, Smith with a career high 53 assists and 14 digs, Hieb with 16 kills and four block assists, Collins with 14 kills, and Papageorgiou with five service aces and four block assists.
The Panthers are back in action tomorrow afternoon Saturday, Oct. 30 at 4 p.m. to faceoff against Tennessee State.