MONDAY SCORES
@UT Martin 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-23)
@Morehead State 3, Austin Peay 0 (25-20, 25-12, 25-10)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Belmont 1 (18-25, 25-12, 25-9, 25-17)
Jacksonville State 3, @Tennessee State 0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Eastern Kentucky 2 (23-25, 26-24, 25-9, 23-25, 15-11)
UT MARTIN 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - – The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team posted its second sweep in as many days against the Eastern Illinois Panthers, defeating its Ohio Valley Conference rival by scores of 25-23, 25-21, 25-23 this afternoon at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
Logan Wallick slammed down a match-high 14 kills with only one error today, hitting .464 to lead the charge for UT Martin offensively. Karen Scanlon put away nine kills on a .318 hitting percentage while Kenzie Hinshaw tallied 32 assists and directed an offense that hit .262 (41 kills, 13 errors) in 107 attacks.
Hinshaw’s nine digs led a crowded Skyhawk bunch that included six players with at least seven scoops. The trio of Addison Conley, Dylan Mott and Kayla Carrell each had eight digs while Scanlon and Baillie Kearns pitched in seven apiece in a match that featured 22 tie scores and eight lead changes.
A kill by Wallick got UT Martin on the scoreboard on the first set while back-to-back Scanlon kills pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to 6-3. Kearns served up a pair of aces during a 5-0 run that made the score 14-7 in favor of UT Martin. The Panthers soon scored six unanswered points to cap off a 9-2 run that evened the score at 16-all but Scanlon and Conley responded with back-to-back kills. Eastern Illinois briefly led at 22-21 but the Skyhawks accounted for four of the final five points as Olivia Lucia ended the set with a big kill. Hinshaw assisted on 11 of UT Martin’s dozen kills in the opening set as the squad hit .276.
The Skyhawks’ first two kills in the second stanza came via Wallick kills but the Panthers seized an 11-8 advantage. UT Martin was responsible for an 11-2 surge as Hinshaw, Wallick and Scanlon each tallied two kills apiece to provide a 19-13 lead. The Skyhawks led by as much as seven before Eastern Illinois fended off set point on four straight possessions. However, Jessica Reynolds gave UT Martin a 2-0 advantage in the match after her set-ending kill provided the 25-21 margin. Hinshaw once again stood out for the Skyhawks as she collected team-highs of 13 assists and six digs.
Like the second set, it was the Panthers who gained early traction in the third set. Eastern Illinois scored six of the first nine points and remained ahead by three until a pair of Wallick kills sandwiched around a bad Panther set evened the score at 12-all. Eastern Illinois led 18-17 but UT Martin took over with a 6-1 run, never conceding the lead from that point forward. Wallick had three kills and was followed by back-to-back points out of Hinshaw (kill, service ace) as the Skyhawks led 23-19. The Panthers did creep back within a single point at 24-23 but UT Martin managed to coax a service error to wrap up the contest. Wallick had five kills in 11 swings in the third and final stanza.
Ireland Hieb led EIU with 13 kills with Michael adding nine. Collins and Emily Wilcox both had seven kills. Wilcox added two block assists. Bailey Chandler and Ashley Sharkus registered ten digs each as EIU had 65 in the match.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, AUSTIN PEAY 0
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - For the first time since 1988 and the first time in the rally-scoring era of collegiate competition, Morehead State volleyball has swept five consecutive matches, downing Austin Peay Monday in straight sets to extend the streak.
The streak ties for the fourth-longest string of consecutive sweeps, joining streaks of five matches in 1979, 1987, and 1988. The Eagles have also captured 17 consecutive sets, the longest stretch of consecutive set victories in the rally-scoring era while standing as the fourth-longest streak in program history.
Morehead State (6-0; 6-0 OVC) picked up a season sweep of Austin Peay (4-2; 4-2) behind scores of 25-20, 25-12, and 25-10. The Eagles were dominant in the match, capturing 67 of the final 96 points of the match after falling down 13-8 in the middle of the first set.
For the fourth consecutive match and fifth time this season, the Eagles held their opponent to a sub .175 hitting efficiency, surrendering a .102 hitting percentage Monday afternoon. Hitting .110 or lower in both matches versus Morehead State, Austin Peay posted back-to-back matches hitting sub-.110 for the first time since 2015.
Morehead State surrendered only 20 kills in Monday's match, the lowest total given up by the program since Sep. 8, 2018, and the fewest allowed in an Ohio Valley Conference match since Oct. 23, 2015.
Defensively, the Eagles tallied six total blocks and 55 team digs as for the second game in a row all four of Morehead State's defensive specialists scooped up five or more balls each, each accruing seven or more digs apiece Monday.
Redshirt junior defensive specialist Taylor Hodges led Morehead State with a match-best 14 digs while junior libero Allison Whitten added 13 to join Hodges as the only players in double-figures for the match. Defensive specialists, sophomore Andrea Grimes and junior Olivia Montelisciani added seven and eight digs each.
From the setter spot, sophomore Bridget Bessler chipped in seven digs while passing out a season-high-tying 39 assists. She led the Eagles to a .324 team hitting percentage—the second-highest single-match total this season.
Morehead State's most efficient attacker in the match was sophomore right-side hitter Abby Hulsman who connected for nine terminations on 12 swings while committing zero errors, posting a hitting percentage of .750. Hulsman's match efficiency is the seventh-highest single-match total in program history.
With Hulsman nearing double-digit kills, Morehead State nearly had a trio of attackers reach 10 or more kills as senior outside hitters Olivia Lohmeier and Lauren Rokey each tallied double-figure kill totals. Lohmeier led the Eagles with a match-high 15 terminations while Rokey added another 11.
Morehead State also continued its excellence in the service game, landing 11 winners in the match. The total is the most for the Eagles since landing 11 versus Georgia State on Sep. 16, 2019. Hodges paced the Eagles with a career-best five aces with Bessler for the second-straight match tying her career-high with three winners.
Chloe Stitt led Austin Peay with eight kills.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-2, 4-2 OVC) bested Belmont (0-4, 0-4 OVC), 18-25, 25-21, 25-9, 25-17, Monday at the Curb Event Center to secure the regular season sweep.
With the victory, the Redhawks extended their win streak to four matches with their second-straight series sweep of the 2020-21 season.
Laney Malloy paced SEMO with 16 kills and 16 digs on a .295 hitting percentage for her 35th career double-double outing (third this season). Zoey Beasley added 13 kills and three blocks for her second-straight double-digit kill match.
Talia Gouard tallied a career-high eight kills with five blocks on a .538 clip while Colby Greene finished with seven kills and three blocks.
SEMO dropped the opening set for the fourth-straight match before securing the second, third and fourth frames to capture the victory.
Belmont opened the match with a 10-1 advantage. SEMO cut the deficit to 10-6 after a 5-0 rally.
Kills from Taylor Floyd and Ally Peterson pushed the Bruins lead to 19-11. A 4-0 run from the Redhawks made the score 19-15 and SEMO would come as close as 22-18 after rally stoppers from Kayla Closset and Greene.
Tied at 5-5 in the second set, SEMO distanced themselves from the Bruins with a 5-0 run that featured two service aces from Closset. The freshman from Naperville, Illinois, registered a career-best four service aces in her fourth career collegiate match to go along with eight digs.
The second frame saw nine ties and three lead changes. After ties of 11-11, 12-12, 13-13 and 14-14, SEMO pulled ahead 18-15 on a 4-1 run.
Consecutive kills from Greene and Beasley made the margin 23-20 before the Redhawks claimed the set, 25-21, after a pair of Bruins errors. SEMO closed the set on a 6-2 run.
After knotting the match at 1-1, the Redhawks jumped out to an early 6-0 advantage in the third set. A 4-0 SEMO run grew the lead to 12-2.
Tara Beilsmith placed a service ace to cap another 4-0 rally and widen the gap to 21-7.
Malloy belted her seventh kill (.700 in third set) of the stanza before Closset posted an ace to conclude the set 25-9 in favor of the Redhawks.
Beasley was also a huge factor in the third set, posting five kills on a .714 clip.
SEMO finished with a match-high .484 in the third set and concluded Monday with a .317 in the fourth frame.
In the final set of the match, SEMO once again grew a huge lead to start. A 6-0 swing made the scoreboard read 10-4.
The Bruins responded with a 3-0 run to cut the Redhawks edge to 14-11 before SEMO went on its own 3-0 run to regrow their lead to 17-11.
Four straight kills from Beasley, Gouard and Malloy (2) pushed the SEMO lead to 21-13.
Caroline Draver then sealed the four set victory with her first career kill. Draver, a redshirt sophomore from Shorewood, Wisconsin, made her Redhawks debut Monday and provided the Redhawks with a 25-17 final set to complete the series sweep of Belmont. She also notched a dig in the win.
Claire Ochs dished out 39 assists and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the campaign (41st career) as SEMO hit at a pace of .194.
Beilsmith led the SEMO defense with 17 digs to accompany four assists and three aces. Ally Dion added 13 digs with two aces.
SEMO registered a season-high 11 aces in the match compared to Belmont's five.
Blocks finished tied at 9-9.
Laura Shoopman posted a match-high 17 kills and 10 digs to lead the Bruins. Carly Mason had 33 assists and libero Rachel McBride finished with 16 digs and three aces.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - On exactly 100 attacks, Jacksonville State's volleyball team hit .340 as a squad to overpower Tennessee State on the road Monday for the Gamecocks' third-straight sweep of the season.
JSU (6-0 Ohio Valley Conference) is off to its best league start, which is every match in the spring 2021 campaign, since the 2009 NCAA tournament team began 16-0. The Lady Tigers fell to 0-6 to start the year after back-to-back straight-set losses to JSU. The farewell tour through the OVC has been a successful one so far as JSU now returns from four-straight road wins over Southeast Missouri and TSU over the past two weeks.
JSU won Monday's match (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) behind a balanced offensive attack that has shown to be a challenge for opposing defenses thus far in 2021. Junior Lena Kindermann led the Gamecocks again with 13 kills, but she was flanked by freshman Courtney Glotzbach with 10 kills and senior Kaylie Milton and junior Katie Montgomery whp each had nine put-aways to stifle the Tiger front line. All four hitters hit above .300 with Glotzbach's impressive .304 clip being the lowest of the group.
Senior setter Lexie Libs finished with an efficient, yet season-low 23 assists, however in large part due to freshman Macie Garrison getting the call for the majority of the final frame. Garrison notched a new career-mark for the second-straight night with 15 assists. Sophomore libero Erin Carmichael picked up 12 digs as TSU hit just .195 for the match, while Milton and freshman Tahya Pozorski each had five. Pozorski, an Oconomowoc, Wisc., native, also had three aces as she joined Montgomery and Kylee Quigley with a strong serving night.
With Quigley serving in the first, JSU broke away from a one-point contest to a 13-7 lead. The two sides exchanged a few points until a 5-0 run capped by Sadie Brown's kill placed JSU at set-point up 24-14. Following a set one win, TSU held with JSU longer in the second at 16-13, before another Gamecock run fueled by a couple of blocks from Libs and Brown gave JSU a 22-13 lead. TSU closed the gap, but the Gamecocks took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-18 decision.
Three early kills from Milton gave Jax State a fast start to the third. TSU would come within two at 14-12, but Kindermann and Milton quickly put momentum back on JSU's side. A 5-1 stretch all but secured the win as JSU went on to take the set 25-18 for its third-straight road win of the season.
Aniya Williams and Kariely Santana-Delgado each had seven kills to lead TSU.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team fell in five set to Tennessee Tech on Monday night in Cookeville.
The Golden Eagles won by scores of 23-25, 26-24, 25-9, 23-25 and 15-11.
In set one, the two teams traded points for most of the opening set until the Golden Eagles took a 19-15 lead after a Madeline Furtado kill to force an Eastern Kentucky timeout. But the Colonels stormed back scoring the next five points after a Molly Michalak kill to take a 20-19 lead. With the opening set tied at 23-23, the Colonels scored the final two points capped off by a Sarah Mitchell kill to take the opening set, 25-23.
Set two again was a back-and-forth affair and was tied at 22-22 after the Lindsey Wilkins kill. Back-to-back points by Tennessee Tech gave the Golden Eagles a 24-22 lead and forced an EKU timeout. But again, the Colonels responded with two straight points after a Michalak kill to tie the set at 24-24. The Golden Eagles scored the final two points and took the set, 26-24.
The Colonels lost the third set, 25-9.
The fourth set was another tight one and the Golden Eagles cut into the Eastern Kentucky lead, 21-20, after a kill by Skylar Broom. The Colonels extended their lead to three, 23-20, after back-to-back kills by Maddy Campbell. Tennessee Tech did not go away scoring the next two points to cut the Colonel lead to one, 23-22. The two teams alternated points to end the set, capped off by a Mitchell kill.
Eastern got off to a good start in the fifth set taking a 7-3 lead after a kill by Mikayla Logan. The Golden Eagles stormed back going on a 7-1 run to take the 10-8 lead after a Furtado kill. Eastern cut the lead to one, 11-10, but Tech scored four of the last five points to take the final set, 15-11, and the match.
Wilkins led the way for the Colonels with a team-best 12 kills. Michalak had 11 kills and Mitchell chipped in eight. Setter Audrey Eurton had 43 assists on the night.
Ali Verzani led the way for the Golden Eagles with a match-high 14 kills on the contest.