FRIDAY'S SCORES
@SIUE 3, Morehead State 0 (25-14, 25-13, 25-16)
@Eastern Illinois 3, Little Rock 0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-20)
@Southern Indiana 3, Lindenwood 0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-22)
@UT Martin 3, Southeast Missouri 1 (25-19, 30-28, 17-25, 25-19)
@Tennessee State 3, Tennessee Tech 1 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 25-14)
SIUE 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Playing its first home match of the season, SIUE volleyball put on a dominating performance, sweeping Ohio Valley Conference preseason-favorite Morehead State Friday 25-14, 25-13, 25-16.
SIUE improved to 7-7 overall and 2-1 in the OVC. Morehead State is 6-8 and also is 2-1 in OVC play.
SIUE took control midway through the first set. Leading 11-10, the Cougars won nine of the next 11 points for a 20-12 advantage. They finished the set on a 5-1 run.
The Cougars got out to a 9-3 lead to start set two and never looked back, hitting .429 for the set on their way to the 25-13 win.
SIUE enjoyed another fast start to set three, before Morehead State made a surge. The Cougars used a 6-0 run to build an 8-3 lead. It was 13-8 SIUE when the Eagles used a 4-0 run to trim the lead to one, forcing SIUE into a timeout. Morehead State stayed close and trailed 17-16 when the Cougars ripped off the final eight points of the night for the sweep.
For the match, SIUE finished with 37 kills and hit an even .300-the team's third-best percentage for a match this season. The Cougars limited Morehead State to just 27 0.47 hitting and forced 22 errors by the Eagles.
Sydney Hummert and Priscilla Jones paced the Cougars' offense. Hummert led the way with nine kills. She hit .333 in 24 attempts.
Jones hit .583 in 12 attempts and finished with seven kills while adding five blocks and a dig. Nicole Kijowski finished with 23 digs.
The two teams will continue the series with a 2 p.m. match Saturday at First Community Arena.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, LITTLE ROCK 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois (9-8, 3-1 OVC) take down the Trojans of Little Rock (3-13, 0-3 OVC) in Lantz Arena for the first time as Ohio Valley Conference opponents. This also marks the first time that EIU has swept the Trojans and now lead the all-time series 3-0. The set scores were: 25-11, 25-20, 25-20.
EIU came out swinging tonight at the net with a total of 44 kills on a .347 hitting percentage which is a team high this season and the fifth highest by any OVC team in a match this year. Panther limited their errors tonight with only 11 on 95 attempts while the Trojans were forced in 19 errors with on a .115 hitting percentage.
On the offensive side of the net, Kaitlyn Flynn hit for a match high 18 kills on 33 attempts for a season high hitting percentage of .485. Flynn scored the last four points in the final set to give EIU their third OVC win of the season. She also recorded two block assists and seven digs on defense.
This marked the fifth straight match for Flynn that she recorded at least 12 kills. Giovana Larregui Lopez (seven kills) and Lilli Amettis (six kills) were also in on the action tonight by coming for 13 kills. Annika Black also contributed four kills on the weak side.
The Panthers' offense could not have done it without the help of Catalina Rochaix and Summerlyn Smith. Rochaix powered the EIU hitters with a match high 27 assists while Smith lend a hand with 12. The combined 44 assists in tonights match is the fourth most in a three set match this season by an OVC team.
Blocks were an important part of the defensive plan today as EIU recorded seven total blocks. Ireland Hieb had three total blocks including a solo block while Emily Wilcox led the way with one solo and three block assists. Both Panthers also hit four kills in the match.
Christina Martinez Mundo also helped the defense stand tall against the Trojan's attack by collecting 13 kills to lead all players. Ashley Sharkus also stepped up with five digs in a defensive role.
Little Rock was led by Laure Jansen with 10 kills and seven digs. Zanobia Willis led all defenders with five solo blocks against EIU. Gabrielle Spankus had 25 assists in the match and Daedrianna Cail had six kills. The Trojans drop to 3-13 on the season and 0-3 in OVC play.
The Panthers and Trojans will be back in action tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. in Lantz Arena for match two of the weekend. Livestats and ESPN+ will be made available.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, LINDENWOOD 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Recap coming soon.
UT MARTIN 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.