SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 3, George Washington 0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-21)
Tennessee State 3, Bellarmine 1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-23, 26-24)
Arkansas State 3,
Murray State 1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-15)
@Saint Louis 3,
Murray State 1 (31-29, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20)
UT Martin 3, Alabama A&M 0 (25-18, 25-24, 25-13)
Austin Peay 3, Harvard 0 (25-16, 25-15, 25-15)
Austin Peay 3, Marist 0 (25-11, 25-15, 25-20)
SIUE 3, Eastern Kentucky 2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11)
@Morehead State 3, Radford 1 (25-16, 25-16, 16-25, 25-16)
@Tennessee Tech 3, UNC Asheville 0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17)
Indiana 3,
Southeast Missouri 2 (19-25, 25-23, 14-25, 25-17, 15-9)
Indiana State 3,
@Belmont 1 (25-13, 20-25, 25-22, 25-20)
@Northern Illinois 3,
Eastern Illinois 1 (25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 25-15)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, RADFORD 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Displaying a tight defense and efficient offense for much of the match, Morehead State Volleyball topped Radford 3-1 Saturday to finish the Eagles Challenge 2-1.
The Eagles (3-3) held the Highlanders to only an .028 attack percentage while hitting .277 themselves and having four in double-digit digs again. MSU cruised to 25-16 wins in the first two sets, then had a hiccup with 12 attack errors in the third to fall 25-16. The final set also resulted in a 25-16 score, in favor of the Eagles.
Junior libero Allison Whitten led four with the double-digit scoops with 20 digs, her second 20+ match of the season. Sophomore Andrea Grimes contributed a career-high 14 digs, while junior Olivia Montelisciani (12) and sophomore setter Bridget Bessler (10) also picked up double digits as the Eagles had 68 digs.
Offensively, it was graduate student Olivia Lohmeier shining brightly again with a match-high 18 kills and also had three blocks. Lohmeier, who along with Whitten was named All-Tournament, put down 75 kills in the three matches this weekend.
The Eagles' net defense was also stout, with nine blocks, including a career-high seven off the hands of redshirt freshman middle McKenzee Wagener.
Bessler recorded her third double-double of the year with 29 assists as well. She also was in on four blocks.
The Eagles balanced their kills attack with 13 in the opener, 11 in the second while getting 12 in the finale and hitting .281.
SIUE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
CHICAGO, Ill. - Volleyball is played best of five - the Cougars needed all five sets to earn their second victory of the season, completing a rare reverse sweep of the Eastern Kentucky Colonels on Saturday afternoon (18-25, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-11).
The Colonels gave SIUE all they could handle in the opening two sets, hitting at a .357 clip in the first set and a .343 clip in the second to claim the sets by a combined 10 points. However, the Cougars' next point mentality proved to be the difference in the following three sets, as they would hold the EKU attackers to a hitting percentage of under .275 for the remainder of the match, outscoring the Colonels by a factor of 65-55. This is SIUE's first reverse sweep of the season and one of the season's first reverse sweeps in all of Division I.
Individually, the Cougars were led offensively by Julia Treichel and Savannah Christian, who registered 13 and 12 kills, respectively. Christian's efforts are doubly impressive, as she hit at a season-high .409. Drifka also led SIUE in assists with 25, followed closely by Grace Beekman's 17. The Cougars' blocking prowess also returned in today's match, as SIUE combined for a total of 15 team blocks to just six from the Colonels. Jessica Vineyard, who earned All-Tournament Team honors for the first time in her Cougar career, led all players with eight total blocks. Annie Ellis finished with six total blocks, equalling the total for the entire EKU side.
The Cougars will return to action next Friday when they make the long distance trip to Fort Collins, Colorado, for their final away nonconference weekend tournament of the season. First serve in their weekend opener against Colorado State is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. CT.
AUSTIN PEAY 3, HARVARD 0; AUSTIN PEAY 3, MARIST 0
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Austin Peay State University’s volleyball team completed a clean sweep of its two matches to claim the Harvard Invitational title, Saturday. The Govs downed host Harvard in three sets (25-16, 25-15, 25-15) before posting a three-set win (25-11, 25-15, 25-20) at the Malkin Athletic Center.
In the day’s first match against Harvard, Austin Peay (4-2) got 11 kills from Tegan Seyring and six blocks from Maggie Keenan to set the tone for the match. The Govs hit .275 with 42 kills while holding the Crimson to 27 kills at a .111 attack percentage.
Brooke Moore led the way in the Govs win against Marist, scoring a 10-kill, 14-dig double-double while hitting .308. Austin Peay’s defense set the tone in the first set, forcing the Red Foxes to commit 10 attack errors and a minus-.176 attack percentage. Marist would barely climb out of that hole by the match’s end, finishing with 26 kills against 24 attack errors.
Austin Peay returns home before setting off for its third road trip of the season when it competes at the Sycamore Invitational hosted by Indiana State in Terre Haute next weekend.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, UNC ASHEVILLE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - After a pair of grueling, five-set matches on Friday, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team made quick work of its lone match Saturday afternoon, sweeping UNC Asheville in the final contest of the Golden Eagle Invitational, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 25-17).
The Golden Eagles were efficient on the serve and put away kills when they mattered in Saturday's tilt, leading to the team's first 3-0 sweep of the 2021 campaign. Tech turned in 13 service aces on the day, the team's highest output since producing 14 in a three-set win over Eastern Kentucky back in February during the 2020-21 season.
The purple and gold got stronger and stronger on the attack as the match went on, hitting .108 with 10 kills in the first set, only to rack up 12 with a .192 attack percentage in the second. Tech was dominant in the third set, attacking at a .263 clip with 17 kills to put things away for good.
There were a number of nice showings across the board for the Golden Eagles individually in the win, starting with junior middle blocker Taylor Dorsey. The Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference selection registered a match-high 11 kills with a .400 attack percentage and four blocks. For the weekend, she totaled 39 kills on a .357 percentage with 15 total blocks.
Outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen continued her breakout returning freshman campaign, collecting her second career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs. The youngster collected All-Tournament honors for the second time this season after racking up a whopping 48 kills and 33 digs on an impressive .248 hitting percentage.
Also named to the All-Tournament Team following a monster weekend was setter Ashley Hand, who doled out 141 assists in 13 sets for a 10.85 per set mark. She also chipped in 29 digs and nine blocks. In the Saturday win, the senior tallied 31 helpers with five digs and a pair of kills.
Redshirt sophomore Madeline Furtado produced a strong showing against the Bulldogs with nine kills while returning freshman libero McKenna Young compiled match-highs of 11 digs and a career-best five service aces. Furtado finished the weekend with 30 total kills while Young put forth 52 digs overall in the three matches.
The purple and gold return to the road for the Chattanooga Classic next weekend, starting with a Friday, Sept. 10 match at Chattanooga at 5:00 p.m. CT. Tech will square off with Troy at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11 and conclude the event with a 3:00 p.m. match-up against Virginia Tech.
UT MARTIN 3, ALABAMA A&M 0
CARBONDALE, Ill. - After nearly breaking through for a pair of victories on Day 1 of the Saluki Bash, the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team earned its first triumph of the season with a quick 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-14, 25-13) over Alabama A&M at the Banterra Center.
Olivia Saunders led the way for the Skyhawks today, collecting a team-high nine kills on a .500 hitting percentage (just one error in 16 swings). She also swatted away a team-best five blocks at the net, setting a new season-high in that category.
Karen Scanlon followed closely behind with eight kills while tying for the team lead with eight digs. Haeleigh Paulino posted a match-best 21 assists and a career-high four service aces while Baillie Kearns equaled Scanlon with a team-best eight digs.
Making her first start of the season, Olivia Lucia slammed down two kills during UT Martin’s first four points of the contest. A service ace from Kambree Lucas extended the Skyhawk advantage out to 11-8 before the Bulldogs went on a 9-1 run. UT Martin responded right back with 12 unanswered points, including a trio of Paulino service aces. Addison Conley also added a pair of kills during the backend of the surge to help lift the Skyhawks to a 1-0 advantage in the match. Paulino assisted on eight of UT Martin’s dozen kills in the opening stanza.
The Skyhawks never trailed in the second set as four different players (Scanlon, Lucas, Zoe Merriweather, Saunders) were responsible for kills during UT Martin’s first seven points of the second set. Saunders collected two more kills on consecutive Skyhawk points before a Lucas kill made the score 20-11 and forced Alabama A&M to burn a timeout. From that point forward, Merriweather, Saunders, Lucas and Scanlon all muscled up for kills as UT Martin took its second set in a row. Saunders ended up with four kills on only five attempts in the second stanza.
Offensively, the Skyhawks combined for a sizzling .323 hitting percentage in the final set. Conley and Merriweather got things started with kills in UT Martin’s first two points of the stanza. Scanlon followed with three kills in the span of four points for the Skyhawks, the last of which ignited a 10-1 run. Kayla Carrell delivered a service ace to provide UT Martin with a double-digit lead (20-10) before an Addy Vaughn kill completed the sweep for the Skyhawks. Scanlon accounted for team-highs of four kills and five digs for UT Martin in the third set.
The Skyhawks travel to Bowling Green, Ky. next weekend for the Holiday Inn-University Plaza Invitational. UT Martin will square off against Ole Miss (1 p.m.) and Samford (5 p.m.) on Friday, Sept. 10 before taking on tournament host Western Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11.
INDIANA 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Laney Malloy surpassed 1,000 career kills Saturday afternoon as Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-2) fell to the Big Ten's Indiana (5-1) in a five-set battle (25-19, 23-25, 25-14, 17-25, 9-15) to conclude SEMO's weekend at the Discover Kalamazoo Classic.
Malloy registered a match-high 20 kills to complement 13 digs on a .242 hitting percentage as the Redhawks competed in their second five-set match of the weekend. She finished the two-day tournament with 44 kills and 27 digs.
Malloy, a fifth-year senior from Roselle, Illinois, now has 1,017 kills in her collegiate career.
She was named to the Discover Kalamazoo Classic All-Tournament team at the conclusion of Saturday's match. For Malloy, it was her sixth career all-tournament team and second-straight weekend earning the honor after being named CEFCU Invitational MVP Sept. 3-4.
SEMO captured the opening and third sets as Indiana forced a decisive fifth stanza after wins in the second and fourth.
The Hoosiers jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the fifth frame that grew to 6-3.
Malloy and Zoey Beasley hit kills to cut the Indiana edge to 7-5 and then 8-6.
Beasley then added a rally stopper to bring SEMO within a point, 9-8.
The Hoosiers closed the match on a 6-1 rally to claim the victory with a 15-9 final set.
Indiana hit at a pace of .290 in the fifth frame while SEMO connected at a clip of .042.
SEMO opened the match Saturday with a 25-19 first set win to take an early 1-0 advantage.
A kill from Talia Gouard provided the Redhawks a slight 5-2 lead. Malloy tallied a kill after consecutive Hoosier errors to distance SEMO from Indiana, 15-12.
Claire Ochs then placed an ace before a rally stopper from Beasley to increase the advantage to 20-16.
Colby Greene knocked consecutive kills to push the margin to 22-17. Malloy then claimed the set with a kill, 25-19.
In the second set, Indiana utilized a 4-1 run to take a 17-12 lead. SEMO stormed back within two points after a kill by Greene and a solo block by Gouard bookended a setting error, 17-15.
Beasley then registered a kill before compiling a solo block to knot the set at 21-21.
A pair of SEMO errors made it set point, 24-22. The Redhawks would add another point on an Ochs kill before Kaley Rammelsburg hit a kill of her own to take the frame, 25-23, and even the match at 1-1.
The third set was a dominating one by SEMO as the Redhawks hit at a match-best rate of .273.
SEMO widened the gap to 20-8 after a 6-0 run. Malloy, Elissa Moylan and Greene all had kills during the sequence while Moylan and Beasley both posted solo blocks.
Moylan totaled a team-best three solo blocks, five assists and four kills. Gouard also had three blocks.
After a Hoosier service error, Ochs blasted a kill to make the scoreboard read 24-11. Indiana would fend off three set points before committing an error, 25-14.
Malloy had five kills in both of the second and third sets.
Indiana moved away from SEMO in the fourth frame, 13-7, after a 5-0 run. The Hoosiers increased their advantage to 15-9 after a kill by Rammelsburg coupled with a Redhawks error.
Malloy cut the advantage to four twice (19-15 and 20-16) with kills before a 4-0 rally by Indiana sealed the set, 25-17.
The Hoosiers hit a .308 with their backs against the wall in the fourth set.
Saturday's Discover Kalamazoo Classic finale featured 18 ties and eight lead changes. Indiana led the aces category on SEMO, 6-3, and out blocked the Redhawks, 13-9.
Greene chipped in 14 kills while Beasley finished with 10 to go along with eight digs and two solo blocks.
Ochs dished out 37 assists and finished with a double-double, tacking on 13 digs with five kills and two aces.
Tara Beilsmith led the defense with 21 digs and an ace. Ally Dion collected 11 digs and Kayla Closset finished with eight.
Breana Edwards led Indiana with 18 kills while Mady Saris chipped in 14 and five blocks. Camryn Haworth dished out 32 assists with 13 digs. Paula Cerame tallied a match-high 27 digs.
The Redhawks next return to Cape Girardeau to host their SEMO Invitational tournament Sept. 10-11. SEMO takes on Marshall in its home opener Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m., CT at Houck Field House.
NORTHERN ILLINOIS 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
DEKALB, Ill. - Eastern Illinois lost their first match of the season Saturday evening against Northern Illinois. The Panthers lost 1-3 in four sets (13-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-25). This was the second meeting between EIU and NIU this season with EIU winning the first match-up, 3-1, at home.
EIU was held to its lowest point total in a set with 13 in the first. Summerlyn Smith led the way for the Panthers in the first assisting on five kills. Danielle Allen chipped in three kills during the first set. NIU had a .343 hitting percentage in the first set with 16 kills.
EIU battled back in the second to force a close set. Ella Collins provided three kills for the Panthers. Fifteen of Northern Illinois' 25 points came off of kills. Eastern collected 12 kills in the set.
The Panthers got on the board in the third with a 25-23 victory. EIU had four total blocks in the third set alone, and also had a higher hitting percentage than NIU, .143 to .085. Kylie Michael had collected eight kills in total by the end of the third and Emily Wilcox had six.
NIU ultimately was too much for the Panthers on Saturday night, and won the fourth set by a score of 15-25. The Huskies were led by Katie Jablonski with 19 kills, Charli Atiemo with 12 kills, and Grace Balensiefer with 47 assists.
Michael led the way for the Panthers with 12 kills, Wilcox added five blocks, and Christina Martinez Mundo collected 21 digs.
Eastern Illinois returns to action on Friday, Sept. 10 at 12 p.m. against Southern Illinois at the Southern Illinois Saluki Tournament. The Panthers will also play Alabama State on Friday at 4 p.m., and USC Upstate on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 11 a.m.
INDIANA STATE 3, BELMONT 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois lost their first match of the season Saturday evening against Northern Illinois. The Panthers lost 1-3 in four sets (13-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-25). This was the second meeting between EIU and NIU this season with EIU winning the first match-up, 3-1, at home.
EIU was held to its lowest point total in a set with 13 in the first. Summerlyn Smith led the way for the Panthers in the first assisting on five kills. Danielle Allen chipped in three kills during the first set. NIU had a .343 hitting percentage in the first set with 16 kills.
EIU battled back in the second to force a close set. Ella Collins provided three kills for the Panthers. Fifteen of Northern Illinois' 25 points came off of kills. Eastern collected 12 kills in the set.
The Panthers got on the board in the third with a 25-23 victory. EIU had four total blocks in the third set alone, and also had a higher hitting percentage than NIU, .143 to .085. Kylie Michael had collected eight kills in total by the end of the third and Emily Wilcox had six.
NIU ultimately was too much for the Panthers on Saturday night, and won the fourth set by a score of 15-25. The Huskies were led by Katie Jablonski with 19 kills, Charli Atiemo with 12 kills, and Grace Balensiefer with 47 assists.
Michael led the way for the Panthers with 12 kills, Wilcox added five blocks, and Christina Martinez Mundo collected 21 digs.
Eastern Illinois returns to action on Friday, Sept. 10 at 12 p.m. against Southern Illinois at the Southern Illinois Saluki Tournament. The Panthers will also play Alabama State on Friday at 4 p.m., and USC Upstate on Saturday, Sept. 11 at 11 a.m.