SATURDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee Tech 3, SIUE 0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-22)
Morehead State 3, @Little Rock 0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-14)
@Lindenwood 3, Tennessee State 0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-15)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Southern Indiana 1 (25-20, 23-20, 25-22, 25-11)
TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Another relatively efficient day at work propelled the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to its third straight win and second sweep in a row, as the Golden Eagles downed the visiting Cougars of SIUE, 3-0, at the Hooper Eblen Center Saturday afternoon.
Less than 24 hours after hitting a robust .318 as a unit in Friday's 3-0 sweep of the Cougars (10-10, 5-4), the Golden Eagles (9-12, 6-3) made their opportunities count again on Saturday. Tech hit .272 while piling up 39 kills and six blocks.
The purple and gold established its dominance early in the opening set, never allowing SIUE to take a lead of its own and breaking the final tie of the first at 3-3. From that point on, Tech methodically took care of business, expanding the advantage out to as much as 10 points on the way to a 25-17 win.
It took a little bit of everything to secure the first set win, including 11 kills, four aces, three blocks, and nine attack errors from the Cougars.
In set two, SIUE put together a significantly larger fight, even taking the lead as late as 17-15 with three straight points. A timely break called by Tech head coach Jeannette Phillips allowed the Golden Eagle to refocus and tie things back up almost immediately. Trading points to a 19-19 stalemate, the purple and gold broke away late, turning in a 25-20 victory.
The Cougars looked to force a fourth set on the day, taking their largest lead of the day in the third at 14-10. Tech simply chipped away at the deficit, tying the score multiple times before finally seizing control once more at 22-21 after an unsuccessful challenge by SIUE.
Looking for a 24-22 lead on a critical point, middle blocker Taylor Dorsey's attack was ruled out initially before being overturned on a Golden Eagle challenge. The kill allowed outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen send home the exclamation point with a monster kill of her own for the 25-22 win.
Middle blocker Skylar Boom was just about unstoppable on the attack for the purple and gold, tallying a match-high 12 kills without a single attack error. She hit an eye-popping .545 while racking up four total blocks as well. Dorsey chipped in nine terminations and a pair of rejections while hitting .368.
Isringhausen enjoyed another strong showing, hitting .310 with 11 kills and seven digs. Libero McKenna Young led the match with three service aces while collecting 13 more digs. She now sits just 22 away from 1,000 for her career.
Rookie setter Jordan Karlen was spectacular again for the Golden Eagles, distributing 36 assists for the second straight mat
MOREHEAD STATE 3, LITTLE ROCK 0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -The Morehead State volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win (25-21, 25-14, 25-14) over the Little Rock Trojans Saturday on the road at the Jack Stephens Center.
The win moved the Eagles' record to 9-11 overall and 5-4 in OVC play.
Irene Wogenstahl had a match-high 15 kills for Morehead State, which was a season high.
Abby Hulsman finished with 12 kills.
Wogenstahl's .609 attack percentage is a season-high for any player this year. She had just one error on 23 attacks.
Morehead State got a match-high 12 digs from Peighton Isley.
Morehead State attackers were helped by a match-high 32 assists from Bridget Bessler.
Bessler also had 10 digs for her fifth consecutive double-double.
The Eagles' .350 team hitting percentage ranked as the second highest in a match this year.
SET 1 | The Eagles took control on the first point and held the lead the rest of the way to win the first set 25-21. Morehead State led by eight points at 18-10 before closing out the set, collecting 17 kills in the process.
SET 2 | Morehead State continued to roll after a set-one win by earning a 25-14 victory in set number two. The Eagles grabbed control of the set lead early on at 3-2 and never trailed. Morehead State led by as many as 13 points at 21-8 before closing out the set, collecting 17 kills while only notching two attack errors in the process.
SET 3 | Morehead State then ended the match with a victory in set number three. The Eagles led from the first point on in the set to earn a 25-14 victory. Morehead State opened up as much as an 11 point lead at 22-11 before finishing off the set. Morehead State's front row had a solid defensive performance, blocking four Little Rock attacks in the stanza.
LINDENWOOD 3, TENNESEE STATE 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team swept Tennessee State on Saturday afternoon in Hyland Arena.
The Lions won the first set in quite the exciting fashion, making a comeback after a slight deficit to push the game into overtime. Jessie Seidel was able to plunge the last dagger, knocking down an ace to win things for the Lions in a 27-25 final score.
The second set went to the Lions in a close 25-21 victory, and then the third set was won by Lindenwood with ease, downing the Tigers in a swift 25-15 victory.
The sweep was a full-team effort, with Rebecca Janke tallying 12 kills and a .444 hitting percentage and Madilyn Dement coming in right behind with 11 total kills and a .259 hitting percentage. Sifuentes also had a strong blocking day, recording three solo blocks and one block assist to lead the Lions in that category. Abby VanBuskirk contributed 34 total assists, while Nyah Wilson led the way in both receptions (25 total) and service aces (two total).
Defensively, Jessie Seidel cranked out a team-leading 12 digs and had the second most receptions with 13 overall, recording zero reception errors for a perfect 1.000 receiving percentage.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. -Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (11-10, 6-3 OVC) extended its win streak to three matches with a four-set decision (25-20, 23-25, 25-22, 25-11) over Southern Indiana (1-19, 1-8 OVC) Saturday at Screaming Eagles Arena.
With the win, SEMO claimed the regular-season sweep of USI.
Zoey Beasley led the Redhawks for the second-straight match, finishing with 13 kills, two digs and a block while hitting .313.
Kaelyn O'Brien registered her eighth double-double of the campaign, posting 11 kills (.296) with 19 assists, three blocks, and three digs.
Colby Greene (.368), Mackenzie Meehan (PR, .467 with six blocks) and Addy McAleer (.333 and 10 digs) each chipped in eight rally stoppers each.
SEMO opened the match with a 7-3 lead. Beasley added a kill before a Tara Beilsmith service ace to make the edge 14-7.
The Screaming Eagles then utilized a 6-1 run to cut the margin to 15-13.
Colby Greene posted a pair of rally stoppers to make the SEMO advantage 19-15. USI then responded with three-straight points to cut the lead to one, 19-18.
Rally stoppers from Beasley and O'Brien coupled with a Screaming Eagle miscue brought on set point at 24-19.
USI made another error as the Redhawks took the opening set, 25-20.
Beasley had five kills in the first frame on a .300 rate while O'Brien added four on a .500 clip.
The Screaming Eagles then evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-23 second stanza where they hit a match high .256. The Redhawks in comparison had their worst set of the day with .135.
With set #2 knotted at 14-14, SEMO took a 18-14 lead after a 4-0 run that featured kills by Kayla Closset and Greene.
USI then had a 4-0 rally to tie the set back up at 20-20.
A Southern Indiana ball handling error retied the set at 23-23 before the Screaming Eagles tied the match with consecutive kills, 25-23.
SEMO then jumped out to a 4-1 edge that grew to 7-2 and prompted a USI timeout.
O'Brien added a kill for a 10-6 lead.
SEMO then gained some breathing room with a 5-0 run to extend the advantage to 19-12. Meehan posted a pair of kills during the sequence before teaming up with Beasley for a block assist.
Beasley then connected on a trio of rally stoppers to make the scoreboard read 22-16.
Greene and McAleer both added kills for set point at 24-19. USI fended off set point three times before an O'Brien winner, 25-22.
McAleer tallied five kills with five digs on a .308 percentage in set #3.
SEMO then sealed the match with a dominating fourth period where the Redhawks hit .520.
The Redhawks went up 6-1 that increased to 8-3 which prompted a Screaming Eagles timeout.
A 5-0 SEMO run widened the gap to 14-5 as USI burned its second timeout of the set. Beasley and Greene each had kills while Closset registered an ace.
SEMO then claimed the match, 25-11, scoring seven of the eight final points. Beasley (2) and O'Brien combined for three kills to grab the victory.
Beasley had four kills on a .667 in the frame while McAleer (.375) and O'Brien (.750) each added three.
Izzy Lukens compiled 24 assists and 16 digs as the Redhawk hit .284 Saturday. USI in comparison finished with a hitting percentage of .163.
Beilsmith, the back-to-back OVC Defensive Player of the Week, totaled a match high 22 digs with five assists and an assist. It marked her 14th 20-plus dig performance of the season and seventh in the last eight matches.
Closset grabbed nine digs with two kills, a block, and an ace.
Leah Anderson led USI with 14 kills and 13 digs. Abby Bednar chipped in 12 kills.
Carly Sobieralski finished with 27 assists with 11 digs. Keira Moore and Abby Weber each had 13 digs.