FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Illinois 3, UT Martin 2 (30-28, 25-18, 21-25, 14-25, 15-13)
UT Martin 3, @Eastern Illinois 2 (19-25, 25-23, 25-16, 22-25, 17-15)
@Tennessee Tech 3, SIUE 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-17)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Southern Indiana 0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-22)
Tennessee State 3, @Lindenwood 1 (25-20, 25-13, 24-26, 25-21)
@Little Rock 3, Morehead State 2 (25-20, 15-25, 25-22, 15-25, 15-10)
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 2; UT MARTIN 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (13-8, 7-1 OVC) volleyball defeated the Skyhawks of UT Martin (13-9, 7-2 OVC) in a battle of the top two seeded teams in the Ohio Valley Conference. After match one, Eastern Illinois moved into first place with a 7-1 conference record. The set scores were: 30-28, 25-18, 21-25, 14-25, 15-13.
This tight battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the conference did not disappoint on lead changes. In total, EIU and UT Martin were tied 30 times and posted 14 lead changes in five sets. EIU was able to take their first two sets in the match while posting 16 and 13 kills in those two sets.
UT Martin would not stay down for long as they climbed their way out of a 0-2 hole to tie the match back up at 2-2 and force a fifth set. EIU was held to a -.091 hitting percentage in the fourth set and was held to just 14 points. The Skyhawks also went on a 13-0 run in the fourth set.
EIU has now won six straight OVC matches which is their longest conference win streak since the 2013 when that team won nine in a row on their way to a 12-4 conference record. With this win, it marks their best start through eight OVC matches since 2005 when they started 8-0.
Giovana Larregui Lopez set a new career high in kills with 24 while leading EIU with a .315 hitting percentage. She also had 15 digs to go along with her new career high in kills. It was her fourth straight match with at least 15 kills, and now has nine double-doubles on the season to lead EIU.
Kaitlyn Flynn was second on the team in kills with 16 despite posting below her season average. Flynn continues her streak of double-digit kill matches with nine in a row. She also helped the team on defense with eight digs and two total blocks. Lilli Amettis also had nine kills.
Despite winning the match, EIU was held to below their average with a .139 hitting percentage. UT Martin out hit the Panthers by downing 63 kills compared to EIU's 55. Eastern also had 32 errors compared to the Skyhawks' 29. EIU did have six service aces led by Larregui Lopez who had three.
Emily Wilcox had a career day at the net defending the Skyhawks attacks. She posted a career high five block solos in the win and led EIU with six total blocks. Amettis and Ireland Hieb also contributed two block assists each.
Christina Martinez Mundo was tied for the lead by all players in digs with 24 while also setting seven assists. Her 24 assists were her most in a match since defeating Southern Indiana on Sept. 27. Mundo was also perfect on receptions with 17 and no errors.
Catalina Rochaix posted a team high 24 assists while Summerlyn Smith also added 22 to help EIU take down the first place Skyhawks. Their efforts helped the Panthers hit for .320 in the second set and .240 in the fifth.
The Skyhawks were led by Logan Wallick with 17 kills, Karen Scalon with 14 kills and 10 digs and Angel Baylark with 12 kills. Haeleigh Paulino posted 31 assists while Dylan Mott posted 24 digs.
MATCH TWO: EIU 2 UTM 3
EIU and UT Martin put on another show for the crowd at Lantz Arena with their second consecutive five set match that resulted in a 3-2 win for the Skyhawks. The Panthers battled back from a 2-1 deficit but it was not enough to defeat the Ohio Valley Conference leader in match two.
Eastern and UT Martin combined for 23 total ties and 10 lead changes in match two on Friday including eight ties and four lead changes in the second set. EIU recorded at least 11 kills in four of their five sets with 17 being stuck down by the Panthers in set number one.
Kaitlyn Flynn had the hot hand in match two by hitting 23 kills in the five set loss, her most since Sept. 27 at Southern Indiana. Flynn was third on the team in hitting percentage with a .182. She has a team high 10 straight matches with double digit kills.
Giovana Larregui Lopez also had a second straight match with double digit kills when she laid down 19 kills in five sets. She was second on the team behind Flynn with 51 attacks and fourth on the team in hitting percentage with a .176. Out of a total of 119 kills between two matches, Larregui Lopez and Flynn combined for 82 of them (69%).
Lilli Amettis and Emily Wilcox both had seven kills each in the loss against the Skyhawks. Wilcox led the team in hitting percentage with a .429 hitting percentage and only one error.
Catalina Rochaix had a career match against UT Martin with 43 assists which marks a new career high. Rochaix had 43 assists out of 107 attempts for a percentage of .402. Summerlyn Smith also chipped in nine off the bench.
Christina Martinez Mundo had herself her second straight 20 plus digs match with another 24 digs. Mundo was one of four Panthers to record a service ace. Larregui Lopez had a team high five aces in match two.
UT Martin had 12 total blocks compared to EIU's eight. Amettis led the Panthers at the net with four block assists while Kate Dean had three. The Panthers also posted a team hitting percentage of .154 compared to the Skyhawks .170.
The Skyhawks were led by Logan Wallick who posted 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .225. Angel Baylark posted 13 more kills while Karen Scanlon hit 11. Scanlon and Mia Saenz both had six block assists each while Dylan Mott added 15 digs to her night. The Skyhawks improve to 14-9 on the season.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (1-18, 1-7 OVC) dropped a hard-fought match to Southeast Missouri State University (10-10, 5-3), falling 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-22) at Screaming Eagles Arena Friday night. The Screaming Eagles' offense recorded 42 kills marking the eighth time this season that USI has earned 40 kills or more in a match.
The Eagles fell by a slight margin in the opening set, 25-21. USI kicked off the frame with a 3-1 lead after a service ace from sophomore defensive specialist/outside hitter Anna Ballengee (Montgomery, Indiana). The Redhawks returned the favor with a quick 4-0 stint that gave SEMO the lead before Junior outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) stopped the run with a kill. The Redhawks added more insurance with three-straight points to extend their lead to 8-4. Down 15-10, the Eagles would turn on the jets and put up six straight points to regain the lead. It was neck-and-neck until SEMO scored four straight to make it 21-19. Sophomore middle hitter Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) and sophomore outside/right side hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Indiana) tried to keep the Eagles in the game with a couple of kills, but the Redhawks nabbed the final two points to open the match with a win. Both teams found success offensively as USI earned 15 kills and a .229 hitting percentage while SEMO tallied 18 kills and a .390 hitting percentage.
A late second-set push from the Redhawks leads to a 25-18 victory. SEMO started the frame with a 6-3 advantage before USI tacked on six straight points to make it 9-6 in favor of the Eagles. Capping off the run was junior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) who tallied an ace to extend the lead. The Redhawks scored four of the next five points to tie it at 10 apiece before USI's 4-0 surge lifted the Eagles to a larger 14-10 lead. Seven of the next eight points were earned by SEMO to regain a two-point lead. The Eagles were able to tie the set after a pair of kills from Anderson and sophomore setter Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana). Tied at 17, the Redhawks nabbed six straight points to surge themselves to victory. USI had its most errors of the match in the second set with eight.
Despite a late comeback, USI dropped the final frame, 25-22. SEMO held a commanding 7-3 lead early in the set before the Eagles slowly inched themselves within two to make it 11-9. The Redhawks nabbed three straight points to make it a five-point set before adding more points to the board to make it 18-13. USI earned five of the next six points to pull within one before SEMO threw down five of the next six points that results in a 24-19 Redhawks lead. The Eagles were able to capture back-to-back kills from Bednar and a SEMO attack error to cut the deficit to two. The Redhawks scored the final point off a bazaar sequence of events that favored SEMO.
Bednar provided the most insurance for the Eagles, recording 10 kills and 13 digs to earn her second double-double of the season. Anderson tallied seven kills with a match-high three aces while Downing nabbed seven kills and four blocks. Sobieralski led the passing game with 26 assists as Weber finished with a team-high 15 digs.
As a team, the Eagles had 42 kills, 33 assists, and four aces along with four blocks and 54 digs. The Redhawks totaled 49 kills, 42 assists, and two aces along with two blocks and 55 digs.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Tennessee State Tiger volleyball team beat the Lindenwood (MO) Lions in four sets (25-20, 25-13, 24-26, 25-21) Friday on the road at Robert F Hyland Arena. It was the first road OVC victory of the season for TSU.
The victory moved the Tigers' record to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in OVC play.
Aleksandra Rojecka finished with 10 kills on the day to lead the Lady Tigers offense. Rojecka, Celestial Miller and Kennedy Davis had 10.5 points apiece. Defensively, had two players reach double figures in digs as Gina Rivera-Ortiz had 18 and Sofia Garcia-Guerrios had 14 to go with her 16 assists to give her a double-double. From the front row, Kennedy Davis contributed five blocks.
Hadley Pride had a team-high two aces in the win.
Tennessee State never trailed on the way to winning the fourth set 25-21.
Aleksandra Rojecka had a team-high 10 kills for Tennessee State.
Tennessee State got a match-high 18 digs from Gina Rivera-Ortiz.
Tennessee State attackers were helped by a team-high 17 assists from Login Williams.
SET 1 | The Tigers opened up an early one set to none lead, winning the first set 25-20. Tennessee State grabbed the advantage for good at 16-15 in a set that showcased four lead changes before the Lady Tigers took over in the second half of the stanza.
SET 2 | Tennessee State won set two 25-13 to promptly take a 2-0 lead. The Tigers grabbed control of the set lead early on at 6-5 and never looked back. Tennessee State led by as many as 12 points at 23-11 before finishing off the set. An 11-1 run late in the set was the difference, TSU swung at at .571 clip and forced eight errors.
SET 3 | Tennessee State saw its chance for a 3-0 win end when Lindenwood (MO) took the third set. The Tigers dropped a tight set, losing 26-24 in a stanza that was tied five times and had two lead changes. With TSU up 22-17, Lindenwood fought back going on an 11-2 run to close the set.
SET 4 | Tennessee State then responded to close out the match with a 25-21 set-four victory. The Tigers took a 5-0 lead fueled by Garcia-Guerrios' two aces and two kills.and never looked back in the set to secure the victory. Tennessee State opened up as much as a seven point lead at 9-2 before finishing off the stanza. Tennessee State also supplemented their offense with three aces in the set.
LITTLE ROCK 3, MOREHEAD STATE 2
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Recap coming soon.