SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Belmont 0 (25-12, 25-22, 25-18)
@Southeast Missouri 3, SIUE 1 (25-11, 24-26, 25-20, 25-15)
@Morehead State 3, Tennessee State 1 (25-22, 25-16, 16-25, 25-6)
@Murray State 3, UT Martin 2 (25-16, 28-26, 20-25, 22-25, 15-5)
@Jacksonville State 3, Tennessee Tech 0 (25-9, 25-17, 29-27)
Austin Peay 3, @Eastern Illinois 1 (26-21, 24-26, 10-25, 25-15)
EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, BELMONT 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University volleyball team swept Belmont University in straight sets on Sunday night at McBrayer Arena.
The Colonels won by scores of 25-12, 25-22, and 25-18.
Set one was tight early and tied 4-4 after a Taylor Floyd kill. That is when Eastern flexed its muscles. The Colonels went on a 15-4 run capped off by a Sydney Schoen ace to take a commanding 19-8 lead over the Bruins. EKU took the opening set, 25-12, after a Molly Michalak kill.
Set two was back-and-forth the entire set and Belmont took a 7-5 lead after an Ally Peterson kill. The Colonels answered back, and we were tied halfway through the set after a Maddy Campbell kill tied the set at 14-14. The Bruins answered back and scored back-to-back points to take a 16-14 lead over Eastern. Again, the Colonels responded taking an 18-17 lead after a Michalak kill. EKU scored the final two points of the set to take the second set, 25-23, and take a 2-0 lead.
The Colonels cruised in set three. With it tied, 4-4, Eastern went on a 12-5 run to take a commanding 16-9 lead over Belmont and not look back. The Bruins made a run and cut the lead to five, 21-16, after an attack error by Eastern, but the Colonels scored the final three-points of the set to take the match, 3-0.
Michalak led the way for the Colonels with a match-best 15 kills. Jovana Bulatovic had 12 kills and Campbell chipped in seven kills with a hitting percentage of 1.000.
Eastern hit .326 on the contest.
Belmont's Taylor Floyd posted 10 points with seven kills, six digs, four blocks and one ace.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, SIUE 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Three Redhawks finished with double-digit kills as Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (5-2, 5-2 OVC) overcame SIUE (4-3, 4-3 OVC), 25-11, 24-26, 25-20, 25-15, Sunday at Houck Field House for SEMO's fifth-straight victory.
All five of the Redhawks wins in the streak have come by the way of four sets. SEMO won its first opening set of the season Sunday.
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks with a double-double of 18 kills and 11 digs. Zoey Beasley matched a career-high 17 kills Sunday, finishing with a .389 hitting clip, for her third-straight double-digit kill match. She also had six digs.
Colby Greene poured in 12 kills for the second-straight match on a .391 rate.
Claire Ochs dished out a season-high 46 assists to go-along with seven digs as SEMO connected at a pace of .253.
SEMO jumped out to an 8-3 advantage in the opening set that swelled to 15-5 after a 7-0 run. Freshman Kayla Closset tallied a pair of services aces during the rally.
A kill from Malloy pushed the edge to 18-8. SEMO extended its advantage to 22-9 after a 4-0 run. Malloy and Greene each tallied five kills in the opening set.
Maggie Adams registered a kill before Tara Beilsmith sealed the set one win with a service ace, 25-11.
SIUE knotted the match at 1-1 with a 26-24 second set.
Trailing 17-12, the Redhawks chipped away at the Cougars lead to tie the set at 23-23.
A pair of kills from Ochs that sandwiched a rally stopper from Malloy cut the SIUE advantage to 20-18.
Consecutive errors by the Cougars then made the scoreboard read 21-20 in favor of SIUE.
Malloy and Greene connected on back-to-back kills before a block assist from Adams and Beasley gave SEMO a 23-22 edge.
Rachel McDonald tallied a kill to even the set at 23-23. A SEMO attack error retied the frame at 24-24 before the Cougars claimed the set with back-to-back points.
In the third set, SIUE won the race to 10 points (10-8) with a rally stopper from McDonald. The Cougars would then grow their lead to 15-11 before SEMO responded with a 5-0 run to pull ahead 16-15. Ally Dion tallied a pair of service aces during the rally and finished with a team-high of three.
Kills from Malloy and Adams gave SEMO leads of 19-17 and 20-18. The Redhawks would force set point (24-19) after a 4-0 run. McDonald would add another kill before Beasley slammed a winner to win the set, 25-20.
SEMO distanced itself from the Cougars in the fourth set after a 4-0 rally provided the Redhawks a 11-6 lead. SEMO hit a match-high .286 in the final frame of the day.
A kill from Sydney Hummert would cut the SEMO advantage to 15-12 before the Redhawks rallied off four straight points to widen the gap to 19-12.
SEMO added another run, this time a 5-0 run to bring match point at 24-13. Talia Gouard then registered a kill for the victory, 25-15.
Dion led the defense with a season-best 19 digs. Beilsmith chipped in 13 with an ace.
SEMO outblocked the Cougars, 10-7. Adams and Gouard each finished with five while Beasley had four.
The Redhawks also posted 20 more kills then SIUE, 60-40, and won the serving battle with eight aces compared to the Cougars four.
McDonald led SIUE with 18 kills. Jordyn Klein tallied 18 digs. Alyse Drifka passed out 29 assists as the Cougars hit at a pace of .115.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Behind a season-best defensive effort that included 13.0 team blocks and 72 team digs, Morehead State volleyball held Tennessee State to a .063 team hitting percentage en route to a four-set victory Sunday evening at Johnson Arena.
Morehead State took the match behind scores of 25-22, 25-16, 16-25, and 25-6 to claim the four-set victory and move to 7-0 on the season while Tennessee State drops to 0-7.
At the net, four players recorded four or more total blocks to lead the Eagles to their highest block total since Oct. 12, 2019. Leading the way was junior middle blocker Mia Swearingen who tallied a season-high with six total blocks while senior outside hitters Olivia Lohmeier and Lauren Rokey added season-highs with five and four total blocks, respectively.
For the third consecutive match, all four Morehead State defensive specialists and its setter recorded five or more digs each, tallying seven or more apiece for the second straight match. Junior libero Allison Whitten led the Eagles with 21 digs, a season-high, and her ninth career 20-plus dig match. Leading a group of three others with double-figure digs, sophomore setter Bridget Bessler tied a career-high with 14 digs.
Defensive specialists, junior Olivia Montelisciani and redshirt junior Taylor Hodges added 12 and 10 digs each to round out those with double-digit dig totals as sophomore defensive specialist Andrea Grimes neared double-figures with eight digs.
Morehead State's 72 team digs were the most for the team since scooping up 78 balls in four sets on Nov. 8, 2019.
Adding 38 assists, Bessler tallied her second double-double of the season and her second in the past three matches. She also dumped in a season-high four kills on 10 attempts, crafting a .400 hitting efficiency.
Offensively, Rokey paced the Eagles with a season-best and match-high with 17 kills. Lohmeier joined her in double-figures, tallying 13 kills, extending her streak of matches with 10 or more kills to 19 matches. Nearing double-figure was Swearingen who slammed home a season-best eight kills, hitting .316 on the evening.
Aniya Williams led Tennessee State with eight kills while Gina Rivera Ortiz recorded a team-best 26 digs.
MURRAY STATE 3, UT MARTIN 2
MURRAY, Ky. -Murray State and visiting UT-Martin waged a five-set battle on Sunday evening. The Racers jumped out to a two-set lead before the Skyhawks came battling back to send the match to a fifth set.
The Racers got significant contributions from two freshman, Jayla Holcombe led the Racers with 17 kills, hitting .267 and added 3 blocks. Darci Metzger finished with 14 kills and a .478 hitting percentage.
Becca Fernandez led the defense with 24 digs while Callie Anderton tallied 45 assists.
With the teams knotted at 13 in the first set, the Racers went on a 12-3 run to close the game, finishing with four straight points and a kill by Darci Metzger.
It was a back-and-forth affair in the second set with 16 score ties as the Racers pulled it out 28-26.
The Skyhawks jumped ahead in set three, 14-8. The Racers ripped off five straight points to pull the game back within reach to 14-13. UT Martin put down four of the next five points and went on to finish the set, 25-20.
In set four, the Racers had an 11-8 lead before UT Martin ran off eight straight points. The teams battled back and forth, and while the Racers came within two, the Skyhawks stayed steady and won 25-22.
It was all Murray State in the fifth set as they raced out to a 6-0 lead. After trading points, the Racers rattled off three straight to build the lead to 10-2. The Racers concluded the five-set match with a kill from Darci Metzger to take it, 15-5.
UT Martin had three players reached double-digits in kills with Logan Wallick leading the way with 16. Karen Scanlon and Addison Conley each had 13 kills.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State started strong and held on late as the Gamecocks swept Tennessee Tech on Sunday night to continue its undefeated start to the season.
Jax State moves to 7-0 after the 25-9, 25-17, 29-27 win over the Golden Eagles (4-3) who entered the night having won their last four matches. In a battle between JSU's top offense and TTU's top defense in the Ohio Valley Conference, the Gamecocks easily had the better night.
Senior Lexie Libs had 37 assists and paced the Gamecocks to a .319 hitting percentage against a squad that allowed .092 through six matches. Lena Kindermann's 13 kills led the offense, while Courtney Glotzbach, Kaylie Milton, Sadie Brown and Katie Montgomery all had at least six kills hiting over .400 each.
The Gamecocks rolled to a 25-9 opening set win behind a stout .500 clip as a team, while the Golden Eagles were held to hit in the negatives. The defense can't be overlooked as JSU allowed just 26 kills on 94 TTU attacks.
Sophomore Kylee Quigley had a stellar night with a career-best 11 digs to match libero Erin Carmichael for the team-high along the back row. Brown helped the defense at the net getting in on four of JSU's seven blocks.
JSU was on pace for another blowout frame in the second with a 21-8 advantage, when a couple of Gamecock errors led the way for a 4-0 TTU run that sparked life into the visitors. Tech closed the gap down the stretch, but the Gamecocks took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-17 decision.
In the third, Quigley served JSU out to a 4-0 start to the set. The Golden Eagles kept it close at 12-10, until Glotzbach had consecutives kills to start a 4-0 stretch that ended with a block from Brown and Addie Halverson. Along with Halverson, the Gamecocks exercised their depth with Caroline Kasson, Anna Nelson and Dani Steele all playing down the stretch during the tightest points of the match.
Tech grabbed its first lead at 22-21 and again at 23-22. After a Skylar Boom block the Golden Eagles sat at set point up 26-25, but a service error on the next point brought JSU back even and the Gamecock bounced back to claim the set, 29-27.
Madeline Furtado led Tennessee Tech with 11 kills.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Five different Austin Peay State University volleyball players posted double-digit kill totals in a four-set (25-21, 24-26, 25-10, 25-15) Ohio Valley Conference victory against Eastern Illinois, Sunday night at Lantz Arena.
Austin Peay (5-2) returned to the win column thanks to a 72-kill offensive performance that saw it post an impressive .409 attack percentage with only 18 attack errors on 132 attempts. It was APSU’s second-best attack percentage in a four-set match all time.
The Governors dominated the third and fourth sets after Eastern Illinois tied the match, 1-1. In the third, APSU had 18 kills, one error and a .708 attack percentage. APSU’s fourth set effort saw it post 18 kills and four errors for a .412 attack percentage to secure the win.
Outside hitter Taylor McInerney, making her second start, enjoyed the best performance by a Govs hitter this season, finishing with 16 kills and a .370 attack percentage. Outside hitter Chloe Stitt had 14 kills while outside hitters Brooke Moore and Maggie Keenan each had 11 kills. Middle blocker Claire Darland set a program record with an .846 attack percentage, posting 11 kills on 13 attempts with no errors.
EIU’s Laurel Bailey led all hitters with 17 kills, finishing with a .308 attack percentage. Kylie Michael had 10 kills for the Panthers, who finished with 45 kills as a team and hit .216 on the night.