SUNDAY'S SCORES
@UT Martin 3, SIUE 1
Morehead State 3, @Lindenwood 1
@Little Rock 3, Tennessee State 1
@Western Illinois 3, Southern Indiana 2
Eastern Illinois 3, @Tennessee Tech 2
UT MARTIN 3, SIUE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The duo of Kayla Bryant and Haeleigh Paulino recorded double-doubles today as the University of Tennessee at Martin soared to its fourth straight Ohio Valley Conference volleyball victory, winning a four-set decision (21-25, 29-27, 25-23, 25-19) against SIUE.
Today's triumph was also the Skyhawks' seventh consecutive win in the all-time series against the Cougars. UT Martin moved to 6-6 in OVC play and 8-14 overall as a result of today's action as the match featured 37 ties and 15 lead changes.
The 18-kill, 11-dig performance out of Bryant was her fifth double-double of the 2023 campaign while Paulino (season-best 50 assists, 11 digs) amassed the 10th double-double of her graduate season. Bryant hit an even .400 with only four errors in 35 attempts while Paulino ran an offense that posted a smoldering season-best .268 attack percentage.
Olivia Saunders came away with 13 kills on a .346 hitting percentage plus match-highs of two service aces and five blocks. Kristin Phillips was the third Skyhawk to reach double figures in the kill column (11) as she hit .241 with a season-high four blocks for the second straight match.
UT Martin's defense was keyed by Kayla Carrell's 24 digs while Halle Everett swatted away a season-best four blocks.
SIUE (10-11, 4-6 OVC) scored the first five points of the match and although the Skyhawks charged back to even the score at 20-all, the Cougars won the opening set. The trio of Saunders (six kills), Paulino (16 assists) and Carrell (11 digs) each compiled astronomical numbers in the second set as UT Martin evened the match at 1-all. Phillips landed the final two kills of the third set as part of a four-kill, three-block effort to aid the Skyhawks to a 2-1 lead in the match. UT Martin hit .353 in the final stanza as the tandem of Bryant and Jenna Vallée combined for 11 kills and a .688 hitting percentage in 16 swings.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, LINDENWOOD 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Morehead State volleyball team needed just four sets (25-21, 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22) to knock off the Lindenwood (MO) Lions Saturday on the road at Robert F Hyland Arena.
The win boosted the Eagles' record to 12-11 overall and 5-6 in OVC play.
The Eagles attack was paced by M.E. Hargan, who finished with 21 kills on the day while accumulating a hitting percentage of .313, and by Irene Wogenstahl, who had 13 while hitting .355. Defensively, Morehead State had three players reach double figures in digs, including Peighton Isley's 23, 14 from Shea Hefner, and 13 more from Brenna Bommer.
The Eagles survived a back-and-forth first set to win 25-21 in a stanza that featured six lead changes and was tied nine times. Neither team led by more than four points in the match. Morehead State also supplemented their offense with three aces in the opening set.
Morehead State then dropped set two 25-20, evening the match at a set apiece. Lindenwood (MO) grabbed the advantage for good at 21-20 in a set that was knotted up 13 times before the Lions took over in the second half of the stanza.
Morehead State fired back after the second-set loss to grab the third set and a 2-1 lead in the match. The Eagles took control of the set early when the score was 3-2 and never looked back to win 25-21. Morehead State led by as many as six points at 18-12 before finishing off the stanza. The Morehead State offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza.
Morehead State kept the momentum going, ending the match with a 25-22 set-four victory. The Eagles took a 1-0 lead and never looked back in the set to secure the victory. Morehead State opened up as much as an eight point lead at 10-2 before finishing off the stanza, totaling 18 kills along the way. Morehead State got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Lindenwood (MO) attacks in the stanza.
LITTLE ROCK 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - For the second straight day, a freshman came up big for Little Rock and the result is a sweep of defending OVC tournament champion Tennessee State that has the Trojans sitting just a half game out of postseason position in the conference.
Kaylee Smith produced career-highs of 23 assists and 22 digs as Little Rock (6-14 overall, 3-6 OVC) beat the visiting Tigers in four sets at the Jack Stephens Center. The Trojans turned in a solid defensive effort with 79 digs, including 16 from Andrea Roman and 15 by Bella Cherry.
Daria Burrows led the team with 12 kills, Daedrianna Cail had seven to go with six blocks and three others – Jeila Fullerton, Sophia Garrido and Cherry – each had six kills. Dariana Valencia had 14 assists.
Little Rock trailed 18-16 in the opening set before closing it out on a 9-4 run. The Trojans trailed by as many as 11 in the second set. Leading 22-15 in the third, Little Rock gave up four straight to make it 22-19, but Cherry ended it with a pair of aces. A 9-2 run in the fourth swung the game from a 12-10 TSU lead to a 19-14 Little Rock advantage.
WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois took down the Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana in a five-set thriller inside Western Hall on Saturday (10/21) afternoon. The Leathernecks move to 6-4 in conference play to stay tied for third place in the OVC.
After falling in four sets on Friday night, Western Illinois came out firing on all cylinders on Saturday. Keyana Cruse had two kills in an opening 5-1 run, forcing an early Screaming Eagle timeout. USI would come out of the break with a 7-2, taking an 8-7 lead. Julianna Schmidt tied the set at eight with her first kill on the afternoon. Both teams traded points through the midway point of the first set as Schmidt gave WIU a 17-16 lead with a kill. Schmidt and Cruse extend WIU's lead to three, 21-18. Cruse would take it to the 24-point mark as Kennedy Adair ended the set with a kill, giving WIU a 25-20 set victory
Set two saw an opening 5-2 run by USI before Kennedy Bauer went down the line for a kill to bring WIU within two. Back-to-back service aces by Cruse saw WIU tie the match at six. The set would be tied at seven and eight before a 6-1 run by USI pulled them in front 14-9. WIU would never be able to pull the deficit closer as a pair of 3-0 runs led the Screaming Eagles to a 25-15 set-two victory.
Cruse started WIU on the right foot in the third set. Up already 1-0, Cruse would cross court for the kill, doubling WIU's lead. Ahead 8-6, Adair and Schmidt doubled WIU's lead with kills on back-to-back plays. WIU would hold on to their lead as Cruse had another service ace sending us to the media timeout. After the media break, Grace Kremer would have a kill, pushing WIU's lead back out to four at 17-13. USI clawed their way back to make it a one-point set at 21-20, but a kill by Bauer and two by Adair pushed WIU in front comfortably as they took set three 25-22.
A back-and-forth start to set four saw nine ties through the first nine points. WIU grabbed a lead with Maggie Craker as she went over on two for the kill. The Leathernecks and Screaming Eagles kept it close through the middle part of the set. Down 15-14, WIU watched Southern Indiana go on a 10-2 run to close the set 25-16.
In a battle to 15, WIU saw themselves jump in front early. After falling behind 2-1, the Leathernecks used a 7-1 run to pull in front 8-3. WIU saw kills from Adair, Bauer, Cruse, and Schmidt during the run. USI would not go away easily as WIU would see their five-point lead quickly disappear, cutting the deficit to two at 13-11, forcing a Leatherneck timeout. USI would cut the lead closer to 14-13, forcing WIU to use their second timeout. WIU went to Cruse out of the timeout, and she delivered with a kill, sealing the set 15-13 and the match 3-2.
Four Leathernecks reach double-digit kills in the match. Keyana Cruse led the way with 22 kills. Julianna Schmidt, Kennedy Bauer, and Kennedy Adair were behind her with 11, 10, and 13, respectively. Cruse had her second double-double on the weekend with 16 digs. Karli Wenzel led the way with 22 digs as freshman Kaitlyn Wickersheim was in the double digits with 14. Maggie Craker had 52 assists to accompany her 14 digs, giving her another double-double. The Leathernecks had four service aces and six total blocks.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois and Tennessee Tech went the distance again on Saturday night, with the Panthers again prevailing 3-2. The win brings Eastern's OVC record to 9-1 and their overall record to 19-2. The final set scores of the match were as follows: 25-19, 25-19, 26-28, 23-25, 15-9.
The opening set was neck-and-neck halfway through, but the Panthers outscored the Golden Eagles 13-6 down the stretch to take the 1-0 lead. Giovana Larregui López and Natalie Mitchem picked up right where they left off on Friday, recording five kills each in the set. Meanwhile, Catalina Rochaix got things started with 15 assists.
The Panthers controlled the second set, going ahead 5-4 early and never relinquishing their lead. EIU had four service aces in the set, with Masyn Navarro, Catalina Rochaix, Sylvia Hasz, and Laura Paniagua contributing one each. Larregui López again led the Eastern attack with four kills.
In set three it looked like EIU was poised to complete the sweep as they worked their way to a commanding 15-8 advantage. However, Tennessee Tech refused to go down without a fight, and rallied to force a fourth set. Despite the result, Giovana Larregui López had another nice set for the Panthers as she racked up eight kills and a service ace.
In set four the roles were reversed, with Eastern rallying back from a five-point deficit to take a 22-21 lead late. Tech refused to be denied, though, and closed out the set on a 4-1 run to push the match to a fifth set. Larregui López kept things rolling with six kills in the set.
In the deciding set, EIU led the entire way. The Panthers built a comfortable 9-3 lead and snuffed out any Golden Eagle rally attempts to secure the hard fought 3-2 victory. Five Panthers recorded kills in the set, led by Larregui López with three.
Giovana Larregui López had another huge night for the Panthers. The senior finished the match with 26 kills (5.2 KPS) on a .317 hitting percentage. She also recorded 13 digs to secure her second consecutive double-double performance.
Kaitlyn Flynn and Natalie Mitchem were also in double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively.
Julia Stanev also had a strong outing with seven kills and seven blocks. Kate Dean recorded seven kills as well.
Catalina Rochaix matched her Friday night performance with 58 assists for an average of 11.6 assists per set. She added 13 digs to make it a double-double, her sixth of the season.
The Panthers combined for seven service aces on the night, led by freshman Masyn Navarro with three.
Christina Martinez Mundo held things down on defense with a team-high 21 digs (4.3 DPS).