MONDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, Tennessee State 3 (25-13, 25-12, 25-22)
@Southeast Missouri 3, SIUE 0 (25-11, 25-19, 25-15)
Belmont 3, @Eastern Kentucky 2 (25-21, 24-26, 25-15, 16-25, 16-14)
@Murray State 3, UT Martin 0 (33-31, 25-11, 25-23)
@Jacksonville State 3, Tennessee Tech 1 (25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-21)
Austin Peay 3, @Eastern Illinois 1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-11, 25-12)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 3
MOREHEAD, Ky. - After holding Tennessee State to a .063 hitting percentage Sunday evening, Morehead State volleyball held the Tigers to a .059 hitting percentage, holding its opponent's hitting efficiency under .100 for the fifth time this season.
On the other side of the net, Morehead State posted its best hitting efficiency of the season, hitting .382 for the match, the highest since hitting .394 versus Belmont on Nov. 2, 2019. The Eagles recorded 50 kills for the third straight match, committing only 11 errors in 102 swings.
Of players with 10 or more swings in the match, three hit .400 or better in the match. Recording seven kills on 12 swings with no errors, junior middle blocker Mia Swearingen led the Eagles with a .583 efficiency while redshirt freshman middle blocker McKenzee Wagener and senior outside hitter Olivia Lohmeier hit .500 (7-1-12) and .464 (15-2-28), respectively.
Morehead State took the match in straight sets, sweeping Tennessee State by scores of 25-13, 25-12, and 25-11. With the victory, the Eagles move to 8-0 on the season while the Tigers drop to 0-8.
Lohmeier paced the Eagles with 15 kills, being the only player in the match to reach double-figures while posting her fifth match of the season with 15 or more kills. Fellow senior outside hitter Lauren Rokey nearly reached a double-digit kill total, slamming home nine terminations in the match while Swearingen and Wagener each added seven for Morehead State.
Leading Morehead State to a season-high hitting efficiency, sophomore setter Bridget Bessler passed out 39 assists, tying a season-high with her fourth 39-assist match. Freshman setter Brenna Bommer who entered the match for a pair of points in the first set passed out an assist on the final two Morehead State points to set a career-high in assists.
Defensively, the Eagles scooped up 46 total digs while recording 5.5 team blocks.
Junior libero Allison Whitten led the Eagles backline with 12 digs with the team's four defensive specialists and its setter recording five or more digs each for the fourth straight match.
For the fifth time this season and the second consecutive game, Wagener collected four or more total blocks, leading the Eagles with four blocks, including three assists and a solo block.
Morehead State also landed six service aces in the match and has now tallied five or more winners in each of the season's eight matches. Lohmeier led the Eagles with a season-high three aces.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, SIUE 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (6-2, 6-2 OVC) swept SIUE (4-4, 4-4 OVC), 25-11, 25-19, 25-15, Monday afternoon in the series finale at Houck Field House to extend the Redhawks win streak to six.
Monday's three set sweep was the first for SEMO in the 2020-21 campaign and secured the regular-season series sweep of SIUE.
Laney Malloy paced the Redhawks with a double-double outing of 13 kills and 10 digs, while connecting at a pace of .297. Zoey Beasley added 10 kills and five digs on a .444 clip. Talia Gouard and Colby Greene each finished with five kills apiece.
Setter Claire Ochs passed out 31 assists in the victory as the Redhawks hit at a season-best pace of .337. She also had seven digs, five kills, two aces and two blocks.
Tied at 7-7 in the opening set, SEMO went on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 13-7.
After a Cougars timeout, SIUE scored two of the next three points before a 7-0 rally pushed the SEMO advantage to 21-9. Malloy blasted a kill to make the SEMO edge, 22-10 before consecutive kills from Greene and Beasley secured the set, 25-11.
The trio combined for 10 of SEMO's 12 kills in the first frame.
SEMO hit a stellar .500 percent in the opening set and committed just one error.
The second set was shifty with both teams exchanging the lead early. Greene posted a kill to tie the set at 6-6.
Back-to-back kills from Malloy along with a rally stopper from Ochs provided the Redhawks a 10-7 lead.
Malloy was targeted again offensively, finding open court twice with kills to make the SEMO lead 14-11. She finished the set with six kills.
Jordyn Klein then registered a service ace to retie the set at 15-15.
SEMO then went on a 7-0 run to extend its advantage to 22-15. Beasley and Ochs tallied back-to-back kills to bring on set point, 24-16.
SIUE would fend off set point three-straight times before a block assist from Gouard and Ochs captured the frame, 25-19.
Gouard led the Redhawks defensively at the net with a career-high seven blocks.
SEMO grabbed its first sweep of the season with a 25-15 third frame. With the Cougars leading, 10-8, the Redhawks notched a 5-0 run to take a 13-10 edge.
Ellen LeMasters capped a SIUE 3-0 run with a kill to knot the set at 14-14.
SEMO concluded the final set on an 11-1 run to earn the series sweep after a 25-15 third set. Ally Dion placed a pair of aces before Gouard teamed up with Beasley for a block assist down the stretch to grab the three set victory.
Dion concluded the contest with six digs, two aces and a kill.
The Redhawks outblocked SIUE, 10-2, and had five in the middle set. It marked the second-straight match that SEMO had registered 10 blocks. Beasley had four while Maggie Adams and Greene each compiled three.
Libero Tara Beilsmith finished with eight digs and three assists.
SIUE hit at a .051 percentage in the match. Rachel McDonald (12 digs), Savannah Christian and Hope Everett each had five kills to lead the Cougars. Sarah Armendariz had 22 assists with eight digs. Klein posted 10 digs.
BELMONT 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
RICHMOND, Ky. - Pushed to battle into a fifth set for the first time this season, Belmont Volleyball (1-7, 1-7 OVC) rose to the challenge and notched its first win of the season. The Bruins rallied to knock off Eastern Kentucky (2-6, 2-6 OVC), 3-2.
The contest was a back and forth battle from the start after the Colonels were able to take the first contest the day before, 3-0. Belmont rallied from the start and grabbed the lead after five point stalemates. Lifted by a 5-0 run, the Bruins pulled ahead 19-16, despite a timeout called by the home team in the midst. EKU was able to claw to within one point, 22-21 , but BU rolled through the waning points for the 25-21 win. The second stanza had to be decided in extra points as Belmont remained hot. By the media break. the visitors were leading by two, 15-13. Belmont then used a 4-0 run to expand the point differential. EKU was able to knot the score 23-23 and went on to take the set, 26-24.
The third frame would be all BU. With senior Halee Van Poppel (Argyle, Texas) serving, the Bruins rolled off six-straight points to take an early 7-1 lead. The home team could get no closer than six points at any time during the set. Belmont used back-to-back kills from senior Mackenzie LePage (Franklin, Tenn.) to seal the 25-15 victory. The back and fourth battle resumed in the fourth stanza. This time it would be Eastern Kentucky that would use a 5-0 run to pull ahead, 13-8. Belmont was unable to get closer than five points down the stretch as the Colonels outpaced 5-2 in the waning points to win 25-16.
EKU jumped out to a 6-3 lead early in the fifth frame before the Bruins scratched their way back in. A pair of kills from junior Taylor Floyd (Louisville, Ky.) moved BU to within striking distance, 12-11. The back and forth intensified as the visirots were able to knot the score at 14-14. Each bench furiously burned through timeouts, attempting to strategize with victory drawing near for both. However, it would be Belmont, using a 3-0 run, including back-to-back kills by freshman Kristen Clemons (Louisville, Ky.), that would hand the 3-2 win over to BU.
Floyd finished with a match-high 24 kills, hitting a blistering .622 over the five sets, followed by Van Poppel, who tallied 18 kills. The team was led in assists by junior Carly Mason (Forsyth, Ill.) and freshman Izzy Schauer (Watertown, Wisc.), who posted 27 and 26, respectively. Freshman Rachel McBride (Decatur, Ind.) logged a match-high 30 digs. Freshman Sydney Willis (Franklin, Tenn.) notched a match-high six block assists in her first start of the season.
MURRAY STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
MURRAY, Ky. - Murray State completed the weekend sweep of UT Martin with a 3-0 win on Monday afternoon in Murray, Kentucky. The Racers improve to .500 (4-4) on the year while the Skyhawks fall to 5-3.
MSU won a marathon of a first set in extra points, dominated the second set and came from behind to pull out the straight sets victory.
Freshman Jayla Holcombe was on fire tonight, collecting a career-high 26 kills and hit .444, adding three blocks and five digs. Callie Anderton tallied 48 assists while Becca Fernandez notched 23 digs.
Set one was a game of runs as the Racers and the Skyhawks each used 4-0 and 5-0 runs to knot the game at 22 apiece. The teams traded points until the finish when the Racers were finally able to string two together and pulled out the marathon of set one, 33-31, finishing on a kill and service ace from Jayla Holcombe.
Set two was a different story as the Racers were in control the entire game, closing out the set by putting down 12 of the final 13 points. They ripped off five straight to win the set, 25-11 on kills from Holcombe and Anderton and a service ace from Emma Kailiponi.
UT Martin took a 9-5 lead in the third set, but Murray State countered with a 6-0 run on a Kolby McClelland ace, a pair of kills by Darci Metzger and a kill from Emily Matson. The Skyhawks kept fighting back into it, taking the lead at 19-18, but back-to-back kills by Matson gave the Racers a one point lead. With it tied at 20, the Racers rattled three straight and secured the sweep on Holcombe's 25th and 26th kills of the night.
Jessica Reynolds led the Skyhawks (5-3) in kills for the first time this season, accumulating 11 on a .226 hitting percentage. Kenzie Hinshaw nearly earned her fourth consecutive double-double but came up just shy with 34 assists and nine digs. Karen Scanlon (nine kills, 10 digs) also almost produced a double-double while Dylan Mott (team-high 11 digs) and Zoe Merriweather (career-best seven blocks) guided UT Martin defensively.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - The Jacksonville State volleyball team dropped Tennessee Tech for the second night in a row on Monday, this time with a 3-1 victory to remain undefeated.
The Gamecocks (8-0) reach the midway point of the 2021 spring Ohio Valley Conference season without a loss, and remain tied with Morehead State at the top of the league standings. The Golden Eagles fall to 4-4 on the season, after JSU snapped the four-match win streak they carried into the weekend.
Senior setter Lexie Libs dished a season-high 51 assists as junior Lena Kindermann and senior Kaylie Milton picked apart the Tech defense from opposite pins. Kindermann led JSU with 20 kills on the afternoon, while Milton put down a season-best 15 on a .400 hitting clip. Sadie Brown nearly reached double figures as well with nine kills as she and Katie Montgomery both registered three blocks.
Defensively, Tech hit just .165 as sophomore libero Erin Carmichael led the back row with 21 digs. Her highest total since upping 24 attacks in the second match of the season against Southeast Missouri. Milton and Libs each barely missed double-doubles with nine digs, while Kylee Quigley (6), Anna Nelson (4) and Tahya Pozorski (2) also secured JSU's side of the floor.
After sweeping TTU on Sunday, JSU got off to another quick start in the first with 9-3 and 19-12 leads. The Golden Eagles closed the margin to 21-17, but Montgomery and Libs combined on a block that shifted momentum back to JSU for the final four points capped by a solo stop by Courtney Glotzbach.
JSU pulled away from a 4-4 tie in the second to lead 12-6 following a Montgomery kill. The lead grow to nine at 23-14 before JSU took a two-set lead with a 25-18 decision. In the third, the Golden Eagles bounced back with easily their best set of the weekend. A Skylar Boom block pushed TTU ahead 3-2 and the visitors wouldn't relinquish the lead from there. JSU trailed 19-14 and closed the gap back to 21-19 and 23-22, both prompting TTU timeouts, but the Gamecocks couldn't finish the rally either time.
The third-set loss snapped a string of 16-straight set wins for the Gamecocks going back to the first match against SIUE on Feb. 14.
Refocused in the fourth, JSU opened a 6-2 lead, but Tech fought back slowly to finally get within one at 18-17. Montgomery and Milton propelled Jax State back to a slight cushion and on set point at 24-21, Libs took it upon herself for the final put-away of the night for the win.
While it's a unique scenario playing in the spring and without having any non-conference preseason tournaments, the Gamecocks' current run still marks the longest start to a season without a loss since moving to Division I in 1995. In league play it's the best OVC start since the 2009 NCAA tournament team. Excluding last year's OVC Tournament, JSU has won its last 12 regular season OVC matches.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Recap coming soon.