SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 3,
Eastern Illinois 1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 25-16)
@Tennessee Tech 3,
Eastern Illinois 0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-12)
@Southeast Missouri 3,
Eastern Kentucky 1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22)
@Southeast Missouri 3, Eastern Kentucky 1 (23-25, 28-26, 25-20, 25-14)
@Morehead State 3, Murray State 0 (25-20, 25-20, 25-16)
Jacksonville State 3, @SIUE 1 (25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 25-19)
Austin Peay 3, @Tennessee State 0 (27-25, 25-14, 25-19)
Austin Peay 3, @Tennessee State 0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-15)
TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1; TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois volleyball played a competitive first two sets on Sunday before their attacking cooled off much like the approaching winter weather which forced the Panthers to play a pair of matches on the same day at Tennessee Tech.
After splitting the first two sets in the morning match, EIU went cold in the final two sets losing 3-1 in the opener before falling 3-0 in the night match at the Eblen Center.
In the matinee Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech split the first two sets of their morning match before the Golden Eagles pulled away in sets three and four to pick up a 3-1 win.
TTU won 25-22, 19-25, 25-12, 25-16.
In the opening set, the two teams traded points with TTU building a 21-18 lead. The Panthers scored four straight points with Laurel Bailey providing a kill and service ace during the run. Danielle Allen capped a 4-0 EIU run with a kill giving EIU a 22-21 advantage. A service error and two straight EIU attack errors then gave TTU match point as Taylor Dorsey provided the final kill.
EIU rallied in the second set with Kameryn Sillmon providing a spark for EIU. Sillmon would finish the overall match with nine kills on 15 attacks and no errors for an attack percentage of .600. Three of Sillmon’s kills came in the second set as EIU hit .216 in the set. The Panthers built a 16-11 lead early in the set and closed out the win on the serve of Elizavet Papageorgiou as EIU closed on a 5-0 run. Bailey, Sillmon and Kylie Michael had kills in the final five points.
EIU’s solid hitting went away in sets three and four as EIU had a negative attack percentage in both sets. The Panthers hit -.029 in the third set and -.113 in the fourth set. In the third set TTU built a 14-7 lead on serves by Madeline Furtado. Skylar Boom and Ali Verzani had kills in the Golden Eagles run. TTU ended the third set on an 8-1 run. Verzani had a service ace and Boom the final kill of the set.
In the final set Ashley Hand and Verzani served Tennessee Tech out to an 11-2 lead and they never looked back in closing out the match. Dorsey (14), Boom (11) and Verzani (10) all had double figure kills for TTU.
Ashley Sharkus led EIU with 12 digs in the opening match.
In the nightcap EIU’s cold attacking continued as TTU swept the second match of the day 3-0. TTU won 25-22, 25-20, 25-12 as they improved to 2-2 on the season. EIU fell to 0-4 on the year.
McKenna Young had the hot serve early for TTU as she served eight straight points to take the Golden Eagles from a one point deficit to a 17-10 lead. Verzani had two kills in the run while EIU had four attack errors leading to a .050 attack percentage in the set for EIU. The
Panthers rallied late in the match and closed to 23-22 behind some solid serving. Papageorgiou dropped in three straight aces to make it a one point set. Boom and Verzani added back-to-back kills to end EIU’s comeback.
In the second set, Tennessee Tech again gained an advantage with play in the middle portion of the match as they built a 16-10 lead with a pair of kills each from Verzani and Furtado. A kill by Sillmon would cut the lead to five points at 19-14 and EIU took advantage of a TTU attack error to close to within four, but could get no closer in the set.
In the final set, Tennessee Tech jumped out quick to take advantage of the match. EIU had three attack errors mixed in with a Raya George service ace that handed TTU an 11-4 lead. Three stight attack errors by the Golden Eagles cut the margin to six at 13-7 but after another short TTU run, the Panthers never got closer than eight points in the final set.
Bailey finished with ten kills to lead EIU as only she and Ella Collins finished with a positive attack percentage in the match. The Panthers were held to negative .010 for the match. Christina Martinez Mundo had ten digs while Allen registered four blocks.
Verzani led Tennessee Tech with 13 kills finishing with a .478 attack percentage in the match. She added ten digs for a double-double.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1; SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (2-2, 2-2 OVC) swept Eastern Kentucky (1-3, 1-3 OVC) with a pair of four set victories Sunday at Houck Field House for SEMO's first two Ohio Valley Conference wins this season.
SEMO beat the Colonels, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22, in the noon match before overcoming EKU, 23-25, 28-26, 25-20, 25-14, in the evening tilt.
Laney Malloy paced the Redhawks over the two matches with 36 kills and 23 digs on a .288 hitting clip. Colby Greene chipped in 27 kills, converting at a rate of .283.
Claire Ochs dished out 86 assists and finished with 20 digs.
Tara Beilsmith led the defense with 41 digs over the two matches.
Match 1
SEMO picked up its first win of the 2020-21 season in four sets (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22) Sunday afternoon. After dropping the first set, 25-20, the Redhawks rallied for the victory with 25-23, 25-18 and 25-22 second through fourth frames.
Malloy led SEMO with 15 kills, 14 digs and four blocks for her first double-double of the season and 33rd in her career as a Redhawk. Greene added 12 with four blocks. Freshman Kayla Closset tallied nine in her SEMO debut to go with seven digs and two blocks.
With a slight 16-15 advantage, the Colonels pulled ahead 19-16 with a 4-0 run.
Out of a timeout, Talia Gouard and Claire Ochs teamed up for a block assist to the cut the lead to 19-17.
Jovana Bulotvic added a rally stopper to grow the EKU margin to 23-18. SEMO came as close as 23-20 after consecutive Colonel errors before EKU grabbed the opening set, 25-20.
SEMO struggled hitting in the first set, finishing with .029 before concluding the match with .149. EKU notched an overall clip of .168 and tallied a match-high mark of .294 in the second set.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the second set before EKU evened the frame at 6-6. SEMO hit its highest clip of .205 in the frame.
Malloy slammed a kill to provide SEMO with a 19-18 lead before the Colonels retied the set at 19-19 after a Molly Michalak rally stopper.
Malloy and Maggie Adams then connected on consecutive kills to push the Redhawk advantage to 21-19.
EKU would knot the set at 21-21 and 23-23 before a winner from Closset coupled with a block assist by Malloy and Gouard evened the match at 1-1.
SEMO started the third set strong with a 5-2 lead before the Colonels came within one, 9-8. A 3-0 rally from Eastern Kentucky tied the set at 11-11.
The Redhawks went on a 4-0 run to distance themselves from EKU, 15-11. Tara Beilsmith registered an ace after a kill from Greene to widen the gap to 17-12.
A block assist from Closset and Gouard punctuated a 3-0 run and make the SEMO edge, 21-13.
EKU then responded with a 5-1 run after a timeout to cut the SEMO lead to 22-18. The Redhawks then scored the next three points to take a 2-1 edge into the fourth set. Malloy teamed up with Adams for a block before Claire Ochs elected for the kill on a free ball opportunity.
SEMO continued its pattern of strong starts to open sets, jumping out to an 8-2 advantage in the final frame.
The Colonels took an early timeout before tying the set at 8-8 after a 6-0 run.
Consecutive kills from Lindsey Wilkins and Michalak gave EKU a 13-10 lead. Michalak connected on another kill to grow the Colonel advantage to 15-12.
Greene tallied back-to-back kills to knot the set at 15-15 after Malloy pounded a winner.
SEMO then went on a 4-0 rally to take a 19-16 lead.
Audrey Eurton and Lindsey Wilkins evened the set at 20-20 and 21-21 with a pair of kills.
Ochs posted a kill before an EKU attack error made the SEMO lead 23-21. Eurton chipped in a kill before Malloy sealed the win with a rally stopper, 25-22.
Adams led the Redhawks with eight blocks as SEMO outblocked the Colonels, 12-8. Gouard finished with four.
Beilsmith paced the Redhawk defense with 16 digs. Ally Dion added eight. Ochs ran the offense with a double-double of 40 assists and 10 digs with five kills and two blocks.
Bulatovic led the way for the Colonels with 13 kills and a .267 hitting percentage. Eurton had 38 assists and 10 digs.
Match 2
For the second straight match Sunday, SEMO dropped the opening set before edging the Colonels, 23-25, 28-26, 25-20, 25-14, in the 5 p.m. contest.
Malloy paced the Redhawks for the second-straight match with 21 kills in the series finale to go along with nine digs. Greene added 15.
Trailing 1-0 in the match, SEMO raced out to a 15-12 lead after a 5-0 run. Dion notched a pair of service aces in the rally.
A kill from Lindsey Wilkins cut the Redhawks edge to 16-15. Eastern Kentucky then evened the set at 18-18 after three-straight points.
Bulotvic posted a kill to shift the lead to the Colonels, 23-21.
EKU fended off set point twice before a rally stopper from Ochs knotted the set at 25-25.
Tied at 26-26, Ochs knocked a kill before Malloy claimed the set with a winner.
Eastern Kentucky started the third set with a 5-1 lead before the Redhawks clawed back to even the set at 5-5.
Bulotvic registered a kill to make the scoreboard read, 16-14, in favor of the Colonels.
SEMO notched a pair of 3-0 runs to pull ahead 17-16 and then 20-18. Malloy slammed a kill after an EKU block assist by Wilkins and Maddy Campbell cut the Redhawk lead to 20-19.
The Redhawks then took the third set, 25-20, with four straight points after a SEMO service error.
In the fourth set, SEMO jumped out to an 18-10 advantage after a 5-0 run.
Izzy Lukens placed a service ace after a kill from Malloy to grow the advantage to 20-12.
Wilkins added a kill before a 4-0 rally from SEMO brought on match point, 24-13.
Adams then clinched the contest with a kill after a Redhawk service error, 25-14.
Tara Beilsmith paced the SEMO defense in the second match with a season-high 25 digs.
Ochs passed out 46 assists with 10 digs for her second double-double of the day.
Dion notched a trio of service-aces to complement 11 digs. Closset tallied 12 digs with five kills.
SEMO posted eight aces compared to the Colonels two.
The Redhawks also outblocked EKU, 8-6.
Wilkins led the way for the Colonels with 15 kills. Michalak and Mikayla Logan each chipped in 11 kills and 10 digs respectfully.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, MURRAY STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - For the first time since 2011, Morehead State volleyball completed a season sweep of in-state rival Murray State with both the 2011 and 2020-21 series resulting in a pair of straight-set sweeps.
The Eagles completed its third-consecutive straight-set sweep of the season, defeating the Racers Sunday behind scores of 25-20, 25-20, and 25-16 after opening the series Saturday using scores of 25-12, 25-19, and 25-12.
With four digs in the first set of Sunday's match, junior libero Allison Whitten became the 27th member of the 1,000-Dig Club at Morehead State, becoming the second Eagle to join a 1,000-Club in as many weeks. She paced the Eagles' backline with 15 of the team's 52 digs, leading another stellar defensive effort that saw Morehead State out-dig Murray State 52-43 and out-block the Racers 8-3.
The 2020-21 season also marks the second consecutive year, Morehead State has had four players hold membership to a 1,000-Club with Bridget Bessler (assists), Lohmeier (kills), Lauren Rokey (kills), and Whitten (digs) each holding membership, joining Bessler, Chandler Clark (assists), Lohmeier, and Danielle McCarson (digs) in accomplishing the feat the past two seasons.
The season also marks the first since 2008 that has featured multiple members of the 1,000-Kill Club, a member of the 1,000-Dig Club, and a member of the 1,000-Assist Club.
Leading Morehead State offensively, were its two current members of the 1,000-Kill Club, Lohmeier and Rokey, who recorded 16 and 13 kills, respectively, being the only attackers in the match to surpass 10 kills. The double-figure kill outputs from the duo extended their streak of 16 and 8 games, respectively, with double-digit kills.
After committing three early attack errors, Lohmeier finished the match with 15 consecutive kills without an additional error, hitting .419. Redshirt freshman middle blocker McKenzee Wagener led the Eagles in hitting efficiency, posting a .600 clip (six kills, zero errors, 10 attempts).
Orchestrating the team's offense, Bessler passed out 39 of the team's 43 assists, posting 13.0 assists per set. Sunday's match marked the third straight match in which she's accrued 12 or more assists per set.
Leading the Eagles' blocking effort, junior middle blocker Mia Swearingen, Lohmeier, and Wagener each collected four block assists apiece, the second consecutive match the trio has recorded four or more block assists.
Murray State's Taylor Beasley and Jayla Holcombe each had seven kills to lead the team. Becca Fernandez had a team-high 26 digs.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Jacksonville State's volleyball team continued its hot start to the season with a 3-1 road win at Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Sunday afternoon.
In their sixth visit to the First Community Center on the campus of SIUE, the Gamecocks (3-0 OVC) picked up their first road win since the Cougars (2-1 OVC) became conference foes in 2011. After sweeping Belmont in both matches last weekend, SIUE hadn't lost a set until the Gamecocks won the first, 25-19.
Junior outside Lena Kindermann had a match-high 22 kills behind an efficient .475 attack percentage and two blocks to lead JSU. Meanwhile freshman Courtney Glotzbach had another big match with a new career-best 17 kills on 33 swings and three blocks. Senior Kaylie Milton added a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.
Senior setter Lexie Libs paced Jax State to a .320 team hitting percentage with 48 assists. Sophomore libero Erin Carmichael had 13 digs for a balanced defensive effort from JSU which saw all 11 Gamecocks record multiple digs.
Despite the 3-1 win, JSU trailed for a majority of the day. The opening set was even at 15-15 before a couple of Glotzbach kills led to a short 4-0 run that opened the door for JSU's set one victory. In the second, JSU trailed again most of the way by few points. An acrobatic move from Libs to go over on the second touch for a kill pulled JSU within one at 17-16, but a 3-0 Cougar run from there push SIUE out ahead for good to even the match at 1-1.
The Gamecocks trailed 15-13 in the third until Glotzbach and fellow freshman Sadie Brown had consecutive kills to spark a 7-2 JSU run which forced a SIUE timeout. The Cougars would tally after the break to go back ahead late, but JSU fought off two set points after trailing 24-22, and went on to win 26-24 with the final four points of the frame.
SIUE responded well after a tough end to the third and again took the early lead in the fourth. This time down 15-13, JSU used a 9-3 stretch to grab a commanding advantage and finished strong with a 25-19 decision to seal the match
Defending Ohio Valley Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week Savannah Christian showcased her offensive skills, leading the Cougars with 15 kills and boasting a .440 hitting percentage. Sydney Hummert and Rachel McDonald also had impressive offensive outings with 13 and 10 kills, respectively. Jordyn Klein added 12 digs, while Sarah Armendariz led all SIUE players with 43 assists on the day.
AUSITN PEAY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0; AUSTIN PEAY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.