SATURDAY'S SCORES
UT Martin 3, @Belmont 0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-13)
@Austin Peay 3, Morehead State 1 (25-14, 25-21, 15-25, 25-23)
Tennessee Tech 3, @SIUE 1 (25-21, 17-25, , 21-25, 25-23)
@Murray State 3, Eastern Illinois 0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-17)
@Tennessee State 3, Southeast Missouri 1 (25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 25-22)
UT MARTIN 3, BELMONT 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Despite hanging tough through two sets, Belmont University volleyball fell, 3-0, to the visiting University of Tennessee at Martin Skyhawks on Saturday afternoon inside the Curb Event Center.
Belmont fell 21-25, 20-25, 13-25 to split the weekend series with UT Martin at 1-1.
The Skyhawks (5-10, 1-1 OVC) out-blocked the Bruins 12.0 to 7.0 and finished with a .221 attack percentage on the afternoon.
Belmont (4-9, 2-1 OVC) was led by Taylor Floyd, who finished with eight kills.
In the first set, UT Martin showed no signs of the sluggish start that plagued them on Friday night, as the Skyhawks tied things at 9-9 before taking their first lead at 15-14. Later, with their backs against the wall trailing 15-19, the Bruins rattled off a 4-0 run to tie it, 19-19. A Skyhawk surge gave the visitors the final 25-21 set win.
In the second set, UT Martin led for the majority of the action, jumping in front 4-1 and later leading 12-8. Yet, Belmont strung together another quality stretch, feeding off the energy from a large Curb Event Center crowd to take a 19-17 lead on a block from Mary Catherine Ball and Izzy Schauer.
Yet, the Skyhawks would once again end on a scorching surge, riding Wake Forest transfer Olivia Saunders to a 6-1 set-ending run to secure a 25-20 victory. Despite Belmont's five blocks in the set, they found themselves in a 0-2 set hole.
In the third frame, UT Martin picked up right where they left off to end Game 2, taking Belmont out of the match with a 25-13 win on a .292 hitting percentage.
Olivia Saunders led the Skyawks with 12 kills while Baillie Kearns had a team-high 11 digs.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - Outside attackers Abby Hulsman and Olivia Lohmeier each notched a match-best 16 kills but it didn't prove to be enough as the Morehead State volleyball team slipped to 0-2 in Ohio Valley Conference play with a 3-1 setback at Austin Peay Saturday.
The Eagles, 4-9-overall, saw Austin Peay take advantage of 10 blocks today after getting 12 last night in the five-set decision. The Eagles trailed 2-0 before winning 25-15 in the third. A back and forth affair in the fourth saw MSU lead 22-20, but the Govs landed five straight kills to seal the match.
Lohmeier (42) and Hulsman (41) took the majority of the Eagles' 133 swings with each hitting better than .220. But, overall the Eagles managed a .180 efficiency compared to .265 for the home club.
Sophomore setter Bridget Bessler completed her second double-double (31 assists, 11 digs) in as many matches and her fifth of the 2021 fall campaign. Both teams recorded 56 digs as junior Olivia Montelisciani led MSU with 12.
Austin Peay's attack saw four players reach double-digit kills, while Maggie Kennan smacked back five blocks.
The 0-2 league start is the first time that has occurred since 2017.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Despite strong individual performances, SIUE volleyball could not find the winning formula and dropped a 3-1 decision to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon (21-25, 25-17, 21-25, 23-25).
The Cougars began the match with an impressive offensive outing, led by Savannah Christian and her five-kill first-set performance. Christian hit .714 in the set and helped SIUE side out a match-high 66% of the time. However, Tennessee Tech's attacking prowess would overwhelm the Cougars, as the Golden Eagles claimed the opening set, 25-21. SIUE, determined to avoid the mistakes of last night, relied on some stingy defensive work to secure a second set victory. The Cougars forced TTU into hitting -.067 in the second set, the lowest mark for either team in the match, which helped SIUE secure the 25-17 second set win. The Cougars dropped the third and fourth sets in heartbreaking fashion, building early leads before lengthy Golden Eagle scoring runs would prove too much to overcome.
As the team, the Cougars notched 13.0 total team blocks, two more than the Golden Eagles. SIUE also registered 47 kills, hitting at a .156 clip. Individually, the Red & White were led by Jessica Vineyard, who becomes the first Cougar this season to hit at a clip of .500+ (minimum 10 kills). Savannah Christian also reached the double-digit kill milestone, while Alyse Drifka nearly notched her seventh double-double of the season (35 A, 8 D).
Tennessee Tech was led by Madeline Furtado with six kills.
MURRAY STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
MURRAY, Ky. - EIU drops the second of two matches this weekend against the Racers of Murray State by a score of 0-3. The Panthers were defeated by score of 21-25, 21-25, 17-25. EIU drops to 7-5 on the season, and 0-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference.
The Panthers kept it close in the first set managing to get it to 14-16 in part to a 3-0 run midway through the first, but were defeated 21-25. Eastern Illinois was led by Ireland Hieb, Ella Collins, and Kylie Michael who all had three kills in the set. Brooke Watts for the Racers had six kills, and was assisted by Bailey DeMier who led the way with 15 assists.
Eastern led 3-0 early in the second, and 16-13 midway through, but again came up just short by a score of 21-25. Collins and Emily Wilcox both had three kills while Christina Martinez Mundo collected five digs. DeMeir had eight assists for Murray State with Watts collecting three more kills.
Murray State would go on to win the final set 17-25, after they led 8-18 early. Collins led the way in the last set with four kills for EIU, while Kolby McClelland ended the third with five kills for the Racers. EIU held a .188 hitting percentage in the match while Murray State posted a .257.
The Panthers were led by Collins with 10 kills, Danielle Allen with eight kills, and Bailey Chandler with 22 assists.
Murray State's Watts had 13 kills with McClelland adding 12 of her own on the day. The Racers move to 8-4 on the season.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (10-4, 1-1 OVC) fell in four sets to Tennessee State (9-3, 1-2 OVC), 22-25, 17-25, 25-17, 22-25, Saturday afternoon at Kean Hall to split the Redhawks opening 2021 Ohio Valley Conference series.
A day after besting the Tigers in five sets, SEMO dropped a four-set decision to Tennessee State in the series finale.
Laney Malloy, the reigning Sports Imports/America Volleyball Coaches Association Women's Division I National Player of the Week, led the Redhawks with 16 kills and 12 digs with three aces.
Zoey Beasley added 13 kills in the match.
In the opening set, SEMO utilized a 5-0 run to pull ahead 14-10. A kill from Elissa Moylan increased the advantage to 17-12.
The Tigers responded with a 9-0 rally to take a 21-17 edge.
A service ace by Tara Beilsmith pulled the Redhawks within a point, 22-21, before TSU secured the frame with a 3-1 run (25-22).
The Tigers then increased their margin to 2-0 in the match with a 25-17 second frame. Tennessee State hit a match-best .333 in the opening set before .241 in the set #2.
The Tigers jumped out to a 14-6 lead after a 7-0 run and widened the gap to 17-7 after three consecutive SEMO errors.
Beasley and Addy McAleer then hit back-to-back kills before a Beilsmith ace cut the deficit to 23-17.
Aria Holmes then registered a block before a kill to extend the Tigers lead to 2-0 in the match after a 25-17 second stanza.
SEMO won its only set of the match Saturday after batting a match-high .190. SEMO started the third frame with a 6-0 lead that grew to 13-7.
Consecutive kills from Malloy coupled with a Tigers error and solo block from Mackenzie Meehan made the score 21-10.
Moylan and Malloy then hit back-to-back kills to secure the set for SEMO, 25-17.
Trailing 7-4 in the fourth set, SEMO pulled the lead in favor of the Redhawks, 10-7, after a 6-0 run.
The Redhawks went to the media timeout with a 15-12 edge.
A 5-1 swing by the Tigers then flipped the lead to TSU, 20-17.
Claire Ochs registered a kill to keep the Redhawks within one, 21-20. A Tennessee State service error also kept the Tigers advantage at one, 22-21.
TSU then hit consecutive kills to bring on match point at 24-21. SEMO would come as close as 24-22 on a Tigers error before Tennessee State claimed the match.
Ochs finished the match with 32 assists and 10 digs. Beilsmith paced the defense with 20 digs and three aces. Dion chipped in six digs while Kayla Closset tallied five with an ace.
Meehan finished with a career-best five kills and two digs. Izzy Lukens dished out a personal-best four assists.
Sophomore Nwakaego Nwagbuo made her Redhawks debut, finishing with a kill and a dig.
SEMO led TSU in aces, 7-4. The Tigers out blocked the Redhawks, 9-5.
TSU outhit SEMO, .179 to .093.
Former Redhawk Kendall Washington led TSU with 11 kills on a .241 clip. Sofia Garcia-Guerrios had 32 assists and 17 digs. Gina Rivera Ortiz finished with 26 digs.