MONDAY'S SCORES
@Jacksonville State 3, UT Martin 0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-21)
Morehead State 3, @Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-19, 25-14, 25-20)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Eastern Illinois 0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-22)
Tennessee Tech 3, @Murray State 2 (25-20, 24-26, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11)
@Belmont 3, Tennessee State 0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-23)
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, UT MARTIN 0
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Jacksonville State's volleyball team capped a perfect home regular season on Monday with a 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-21) win over visiting UT Martin in the next-to-last weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play.
For now, JSU's 8-0 home record stands as only the third undefeated home slate in its Division I history. The previous two clean slates, 2009 and 2006, coincide with the Gamecocks' last two trips to the NCAA tournament.
Overall, JSU moved to 14-0 behind its 10th sweep of the season on Monday, out-hitting the Skyhawks .393 to .102. UTM (5-9) had previously been the last team to beat JSU at home in the regular season back in 2019.
Freshman Courtney Glotzbach topped out with a team-best 10 kills on a day that saw the Gamecocks put their depth on full display once again. Junior Lena Kindermann had eight kills, including the final point of the day, while senior Kaylie Milton and freshman Sadie Brown each hit .500-or-better with five kills. Junior Katie Montgomery was efficient with four kills on 10 swings and no errors, ahead of Addie Halverson, Caroline Kasson and Lexie Libs with three put-aways each. Libs dished 31 of JSU's 34 assists from her setter position.
The visiting Skyhawks had no answer as the Gamecock defense was equally successful. Jax State out-blocked UTM, 10-1, largely behind a career-high six stops by Brown. Kindermann grabbed a piece of four blocks, while Libs and Montgomery assisted in three.
Senior Dani Steele, JSU's lone outgoing senior this season, picked up three digs as part of a back row that allowed just 29 kills for UTM through three sets. Sophomore libero Erin Carmichael led with 12 digs, aided by Kylee Quigley, Tahya Pozorski and Anna Nelson along the back line.
The Gamecocks ran away with the opening set in emphatic form for a 25-8 decision. Leading 17-7, Quigley registered two of her three aces during an 8-0 run to solidify the 1-0 match lead. Service success played a key role in the second as Montgomery reeled off three-straight aces to spark a 6-0 run that pushed JSU in from 12-5. The Gamecocks had UTM doubled up at 16-8, before taking the second frame, 25-14.
Nelson and Halverson started the third and final set, with Kasson joining shortly after. The score was even at 4-4 early, before JSU opened up a six-point advantage at 13-7. UTM rallied back following a Gamecock substitution error, winning seven of the next nine points to pull within one at 15-14. A kill from Kasson led to several attack errors by the Skyhawks and the lead was soon 20-15 on its way to another set win for the Gamecocks.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - Recording back-to-back matches with double-figure kills for the first time in her career, sophomore outside hitter Abby Hulsman slammed home a career-high 16 kills to lead Morehead State volleyball to a season sweep of in-state rival Eastern Kentucky.
Hulsman's career evening came behind a .387 hitting efficiency, recording 16 kills with just four errors on 31 swings. She closed the match registering nine of Morehead State's 19 kills in the third and final set.
In the match, the Eagles hit .384 as a team as four attackers their setter posted efficiencies greater than .375. Middle blockers, junior Mia Swearingen, and redshirt freshman McKenzee Wagener each recorded a .600-plus hitting percentage with Swearingen's .692 percentage a match-high.
Joining Hulsman with double-digit kills was senior outside hitter Olivia Lohmeier who collected 10 in the match, hitting .391, committing just one error over 23 swings.
Sophomore setter Bridget Bessler passed out a match-high 44 assists, her second-consecutive 40-plus assists match and fourth overall this season. She averaged 14.67 assists per set in the match passing out no fewer than 14 helpers in a set.
Leading Morehead State defensively, junior libero Allison Whitten was the lone player with 10 or more digs, recording 16. Just behind her on the leaderboard for the Eagles were redshirt junior defensive specialist Taylor Hodges and junior defensive specialist Olivia Montelisciani who chipped in seven and six digs, respectively.
The Eagles also finished the match with five total blocks as Swearingen paced the block with a match-high-tying three total blocks with Lohmeier adding a pair of blocks.
Morehead State also landed five winners on the evening in service as Lohmeier tied a season-high with three service aces while Hodges and Montelisciani each added one.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (12-2, 12-2 OVC) swept Eastern Illinis (2-12, 2-12 OVC), 25-22, 25-13, 25-22, Monday at Lantz Arena.
With the victory, SEMO extended its win streak to 12 and secured its sixth regular-season series sweep. The Redhawks have now posted six 3-0 sweeps this season.
Colby Greene paced the SEMO attack with 13 kills on a rate of .375. Talia Gouard chipped in a career-high 10 kills with two blocks on a .714 hitting clip. Laney Malloy added nine kills and four digs.
Claire Ochs compiled 36 assists with 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the campaign as SEMO finished with a .277 hitting percentage.
The Redhawks opened the match with a 7-2 advantage that grew to 16-9 after a block assist from Maggie Adams and Colby Greene followed by an Ally Dion service ace.
Gouard then knocked a kill before Kayla Closset placed a service ace to push the lead to 19-11. Malloy added a rally stopper to make the score, 20-12.
An 8-1 run by the Panthers cut the SEMO edge to 21-20. Greene then slammed a pair of kills to bring the SEMO margin to 23-21.
Malloy sealed the first frame win with a kill after an EIU service error, 25-22. SEMO hit a match-high .400 in the opening set. Malloy had five kills in the first set, connecting at a rate of .400.
The Redhawks then started the second set with a 4-0 lead that prompted an early Panthers timeout. Out of the break, SEMO would widen the gap to 20-7.
Kills by Lexie Smith and Greene followed by a solo block from Greene increased the lead to 23-9. Greene knocked another kill to bring on set point at 24-10 and then won the set for SEMO with another rally stopper, 25-13.
Greene had five kills during the frame on a .333 hitting clip.
Greene (6) and Gouard (5) then combined for 11 kills in the final set to secure the victory for SEMO.
EIU opened the set with a 5-1 lead that SEMO cut to 8-7 after a winner from Gouard.
Back-to-back kills from Ireland Hieb gave Eastern Illinois a 13-9 lead before a 6-1 run by the Redhawks brought the lead back in favor of SEMO, 15-14.
Kameryn Sillmon then knotted the frame at 15-15 with a kill. SEMO responded with a 4-0 rally that featured kills from Greene, Ochs and Gouard along with a service ace by Addy McAleer.
The Panthers clawed within a point before consecutive kills by Gouard made the scoreboard read 21-18.
Malloy added a pair of winners to bring the SEMO lead to 23-21.
Hannah Sieg and Hieb would combine for a block assist before the Redhawks claimed the victory with a 25-22 third stanza. SEMO concluded the match with a .302 hitting percentage in the third set.
Libero Ally Dion led the defense with 11 digs and an assist. Closset chipped in five digs and McAleer finished with four.
SEMO outscored the Panthers, 59-39, and led the kill differential, 43-32.
The Redhawks also tallied eight aces compared to EIU's two. Dion and Izzy Lukens both notched a pair. Ochs, Closset, Malloy and McAleer each had one.
SEMO out blocked Eastern Illinois, 8-5. Greene led the Redhawks with a season-high five blocks. Adams added four and Beasley had two.
Laurel Bailey led the Panthers with 13 kills. Danielle Allen added nine as EIU hit a percentage of .165.
Bailey Chandler had 26 assists and 10 digs to pace the Panthers in both statistics. Christina Martinez Mundo added 10 digs.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, MURRAY STATE 2
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball team (5-9) fell to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles (7-7) in five sets, 20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 23-25, 11-15 on Monday in Murray, Kentucky, falling to 5-9 in conference play and out of contention for the conference tournament as only the top four team make it this year.
Jayla Holcombe led the Racers offensively, knocking down 16 kills for the second night in a row.
Taylor Beasley set new career-highs in kills (14), hitting percentage (.364), digs (8) and service aces (3).
Kolby McClelland picked up her second double-double of the season finishing with ten kills and eleven digs.
Becca Fernandez dug up 28 balls throughout the four sets and Callie Anderton, playing in her final game at Racer Arena, tallied 42 assists and five kills.
In the first set, the Racers rattled four straight points, capped with a Beasley service ace to take a slight 5-4 advantage. This was Murray State's only lead in the set as Tennessee Tech began to pull away building their lead as big as eight. The Racers fought off four match points but ultimately fell 25-20 to open the match.
The Racers found their game in the second set and brought the energy to even the match at one apiece. The Golden Eagles started off with a 8-3 lead but the Racers battled back to even the score at 10, winning seven of the next nine points. The set was back-and-forth from then on with neither team able to more take than a three point lead. With the Racers leading, 24-21, Tennessee Tech defended three match points to tie things at 24 but back-to-back kills from Holcombe sealed the set for Murray State.
Murray State jumped out to a 11-6 advantage in set three using kills from Beasley and Holcombe and a service ace by McClelland. Tennessee Tech came back to tie the game at 20 but Murray won the race to five on kills by Holcombe and Anderton, 25-22, to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set four was a game of runs as the Golden Eagles used a 5-0 run to build a 5-1 lead but Murray State immediately responded with a 9-2 run to pull ahead 10-7 using back-to-back from Beasley and Holcombe contributed back-to-back kills. Tennessee Tech then went on a 7-1 run to lead 18-16. The game was tied six times at the end but the Golden Eagles were able to pull it out, 25-23, and send the final home game of the 2020-21 season to a decisive fifth set.
The final set was back-and-forth affair with five scoring ties at the 7-7 mark but that's when the Golden Eagles took the game over and won 15-11 to sweep the series.
BELMONT 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Perhaps it was the winning feeling in the atmosphere that helped lift Belmont University Volleyball to its first sweep of the season on Monday evening. The Bruins (3-11 OVC) defeated crosstown rival Tennessee State (2-12 OVC) in straight sets, 3-0.
Despite the tightness of the score, the first set belonged to BU. The Bruins came out hot and by the media timeout had wedged three points between them and the Lady Tigers. After the break, Belmont surged behind kills from freshman Kristen Clemons (Louisville, Ky.) juniior Taylor Floyd (Louisville, Ky.) and senior Halee Van Poppel (Argyle, Texas). A 4-0 run gave the home team a 20-26 lead and Tennessee State was forced to call timeout. BU kept pounding and used a kill by sophomore Laura Shoopman (Salem, Wisc.) to reach set point. Van Poppel was able to seal the 25-22 win with a deep kill.
In the second frame, the Lady Tigers pushed early to play catch-up after Belmont grew a five-point lead, 12-7. After the media timeout, Belmont continued to keep TSU at arms length. A 3-0 run put the home team ahead, 17-11, and Tennessee State called for a break in the action. The visitors emerged from the break, grabbing the first point but Belmont regained control. TSU attack errors lifted Belmont to a 24-18 lead and Floyd came through with the final kill to give BU the set victory.
In the most hotly contested set of the night, Tennessee State narrowly led early. The score was knotted nine times before the Lady Tigers pulled ahead by three, 15-12, at the media break. Belmont battled back and closed the gap to one point, 18-17, forcing the visitors to burn a timeout. The Bruins gained the lead after the break and pulled ahead, 21-19 after back-to-back kills by Floyd and Clemons. The flurry saw TSU call its final timeout, however, the pause did not slow the Bruins. Kills by senior MacKenzie Harless (Brownsburg, Ind.) and Floyd helped seal the 25-23 win.
For the night, Floyd and Van Poppel posted 14 and 12 kills, respectively. Freshman Izzy Schauer (Watertown, Wisc.) finished with a match-high 33. Van Poppel also led the team in digs with a total of 14. Clemons and Van Poppel each posted a solo block. Freshman Rachel McBride (Decatur, Ind.) recorded three service aces.