SATURDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 3, Murray State 1 (25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 25-17)
Austin Peay 3, @Tennessee Tech 1 (25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17)
Morehead State 3, @Tennessee State 2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-18, 15-13)
@SIUE 3, Belmont 1 (22-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-17)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Eastern Illinois 0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-18)
UT MARTIN 3, MURRAY STATE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Murray State Racers (8-8, 2-4 OVC) battled with the UT Martin Skyhawks (10-10, 6-1 OVC) falling in four sets, 20-25, 16-25, 25-23, 17-25 on Saturday morning at Skyhawk Fieldhouse in Martin, Tennessee.
The Racers started slow, but found their groove in the third set, hitting a match-best .333 as a team in the set.
Darci Metzger had another big night as the sophomore put up double-digit kills for the second straight game, hitting 12 on a .320 attacking % and added one solo block and four block assists.
Freshmen Alexa Harris matched Metzger's team-high 12 kills, adding 13 digs for her second career double-double while Brooke Lynn Watts continued her streak of double-digit kills in every game this season with 11 kills, seven digs and three block assists.
Senior libero Becca Fernandez anchored the back row with 22 digs while freshman setter Bailey DeMier tallied 40 assists and eight digs.
UT Martin was led by Logan Wallick with 18 kills. Karen Scanlon recorded 13 kills while Addison Conley added 10 kills. Haeleigh Paulino led the team with 16 digs.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Graduate student Brooke Moore's 56th career double-double propelled Austin Peay State University volleyball to a four-set Ohio Valley Conference victory (25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 25-17) over Tennessee Tech, Saturday, at the Eblen Center.
Coming off a close, five-set loss to the Golden Eagles on Friday night, the Governors came out hot in a first set that saw Austin Peay never trail. Moore and junior right-side hitter Mikayla Powell helped the Govs secure the early lead with 13 combined kills at a .477 attack percentage.
The Govs extended their lead in a defensive-oriented second set that saw them hold Tennessee Tech to a .083 hitting percentage and capitalized on nine Golden Eagle attack errors.
Six players recorded a kill in the match-deciding fourth set, with sophomore middle blocker Maggie Keenan leading the team with a quartet of kills. The Franklin native's nine-kill performance was her second-highest mark this season.
Moore and Powell led the Govs for the second straight match with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. The reigning OVC Offensive Player of the Week, Moore also tallied 10 digs against the Golden Eagles for her 11th double-double this season.
The win marked the 40th all-time victory for Austin Peay over their in-state rival which is the fourth-highest win total for the Govs against an opponent behind Tennessee State (55), UT Martin (53), and Murray State (42).
Austin Peay returns to Clarksville for a 6 p.m., Wednesday night contest against Murray State.
The midweek matchup not only allows for the two rivals to meet for the first time this season, but also will decide the leader in the all-time series. The Govs and Racers have each captured 42 victories in a series dating back to 1982.
Austin Peay swept last season's series against the Racers in Clarksville to end a four-match losing streak against their foe from the Bluegrass State.
Moore and Powell combined for 13 of Austin Peay's 16 kills in the first set. The Govs took the early lead after fending off an 11-5 Tennessee Tech run to end the set.
The Governors used a balanced offense and stifling defense to extend their lead. Five Govs posted two or more kills in the set while the defense held TTU to a .083 attack percentage.
The Golden Eagles rallied midway through the third set and went on a 9-3 run to propel trim the Govs' lead to one.
Maggie Keenan led the Austin Peay offense in the fourth set with four kills and was followed by three Brooke Moore kills.
Madolyn Isringhausen led Tennessee Tech with 15 kills while McKenna Young had a team-best 13 digs.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn.- Four Morehead State Eagles recorded double-digit kills, and the volleyball team shook off a 2-0 deficit Saturday at Tennessee State to defeat the Tigers 3-2.
With their fifth consecutive win, Morehead State evened its overall mark at 9-9 and moved to 5-2 in the OVC. MSU fell 25-23 in the first two sets, but responded with a 25-21 victory to send it to a fourth where the Eagles also won 25-18. In the fifth frame, MSU trailed 9-7 but doubled up TSU 8-4 to rally for the win.
Sophomore Abby Hulsman led the Eagles with 16 kills, followed closely by freshman Irene Wogenstahl with 15 spikes. Wogenstahl posted solid totals efficiency-wise with a .321 attack percentage. Grad student Olivia Lohmeier smacked down 13 more kills to move her career total to 1,799, and freshman Maycie Welborn got to double-digits for the fourth straight match with 12. She also truend back four blocks.
Freshman McKenzee Wagener was again stout at the net, notching six total blocks, while sophomore setter Bridget Bessler handed out assists on 57 of the Eagles' 70 kills.
MSU limited the hosts to just a .161 attacking day while hitting .203 itself. The Eagles won that third frame despite 10 errors, but won in the two remaining sets by limiting TSU to 13 kills total and 12 errors.
Junior libero Allison Whitten came up with a team-high 19 digs.
Tennessee State was led by Aniya Williams with 16 kills while Kendall Washington added 11. Gina Rivera Ortiz led all players with 26 digs.
SIUE 3, BELMONT 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - A potent offensive attack proved to be the difference on Saturday afternoon, as SIUE volleyball earned its first home Ohio Valley Conference win of the season in a 3-1 triumph over Belmont.
The opening set saw an outstanding attacking effort from the Cougars, hitting a match-high .379 on the day; however, a number of unforced SIUE errors saw the Bruins side out at nearly 70 percent and helped the visitors claim the first frame. The second set saw both squads trade points, as neither side could gain an edge. Both SIUE and Belmont sided out at over 60 percent, the first time that has happened in any set this season. Despite requiring extra points, the Cougars had enough in the tank to earn a second-set victory. From then on, the SIUE defense would show just how formidable they can be, holding the visiting Bruins to hitting just .200 in the third set and .000 in the fourth to claim the match.
Individually, the Cougars were led by a season-best outing from Annie Ellis, who registered 11 kills and hit for an impressive .562 in the win. Ellis also added an error-free four total blocks in the contest. Alyse Drifka returned to form in the contest, earning her eighth double-double of the season with a 10-dig, 18-assist performance. Julia Treichel and Savannah Christian also notched tremendous outings, each registering 10 kills. True freshman Ainsley Ranstead also demonstrated her skill on the outside, notching eight kills and hitting for .278 on the day.
Belmont's Taylor Floyd recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. Laura Shoopman recorded 11 kills while Laruen Walso added 10. Rachel McBride led the team with 13 digs.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (14-5, 5-2 OVC) captured the road series sweep over Eastern Illinois with its fourth-straight 3-0 victory, 25-23, 25-22, 25-18, Saturday afternoon at Lantz Arena.
With the victory, SEMO extended its win streak to four matches.
Zoey Beasley led the Redhawks attack with 14 kills on a .345 hitting percentage. Laney Malloy and Colby Greene each added eight kills.
Five Redhawks finished in double-figures for digs led by libero Tara Beilsmith with 13. Ally Dion chipped in 12 while Malloy and Megan Harris each had 11.
Harris made her second-straight start as a Redhawk, notching career bests in digs and aces (6).
Claire Ochs accumulated 10 digs to complement 29 assists and four kills (.400).
The Panthers opened the match with a 5-3 lead in the first set after consecutive aces by Kylie Michael.
SEMO and Eastern Illinois were tied at 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9 in a set that featured a match-high 13 ties and six lead changes.
The Panthers pulled ahead 12-9 after a 4-0 run. EIU then grew its advantage to 20-16.
SEMO utilized a 5-0 run to take a 21-20 lead. Beasley and Meehan each had kills while Harris had two aces during the sequence.
Harris then added a kill to knot the set at 22-22.
Michael added a rally stopper for EIU before the Redhawks claimed the opening frame, 25-23, on a 3-0 run. Greene and Ochs each hit kills before Talia Gouard and Ochs teamed up for the block assist.
The Panthers started the second set fast, jumping out to a 6-2 edge.
SEMO responded with a 6-0 run to switch the lead in favor of the Redhawks, 8-6.
A kill by Talia Gouard evened the stanza at 10-10.
Eastern Illinois then regrew its margin to 17-12 before the Redhawks clawed back.
SEMO utilized a 7-0 rally to overcome the deficit, 20-18. Beasley had three kills during the sequence and paced the Redhawks in the second set with six kills on a .364 clip.
Mackenzie Meehan and Greene combined for a block assist before the Panthers retied the frame at 21-21.
Emily Wilcox notched a kill for EIU to retie the set at 22-22 after a Meehan solo block.
SEMO closed the set with three unanswered points to extend its advantage to 2-0 in the match. Malloy belted back-to-back kills before an ace from Dion.
Trailing 10-8 in the third set, SEMO went up 14-10 after a 6-0 run.
Harris registered three consecutive aces during the rally before a block assist by Malloy and Meehan.
Malloy, Gouard, Ochs and Beasley each added a kill to widen the gap to 19-14.
Beasley then connected on a kill before a block with Meehan followed by an Izzy Lukens ace made the Redhawks advantage 22-16.
Beasley added another kill before Greene and Malloy hit rally stoppers to seal the victory for SEMO with a 25-18 third set.
The Redhawks hit a match-best .257 in the final set for a .188 percentage. In comparison, EIU knocked a .211 in the third set, finishing with a .133 mark.
Kills finished tied at 38-38. SEMO led aces, 9-5, and the Panthers had a 12-10 advantage for blocks.
Meehan paced the Redhawks with a personal-best seven total blocks (1 solo, 6 assists). Greene and Beasley each chipped in three.
Wilcox led EIU with nine kills while Michael and Kameryn Sillmon each had seven. Bailey Chandler finished with 13 assists and 10 digs. Christina Martinez Mundo grabbed a match-best 23 digs.