FRIDAY'S SCORES
Eastern Illnois 3, UT Maritin 0
@Southern Indiana, Little Rock 1
@Southeast Missouri 3, Morehead State 1
Tennessee State 3, Tennessee Tech 1
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois defeated UT Martin 3-0 on Friday night in their first road conference match of the 2023 season. The victory moves their OVC record to 2-0 and overall record to 12-1. Tonight's set scores were 25-14, 25-19, and 25-20.
The Panthers had no problem dispatching of the Skyhawks in the opening set, as they used a 9-2 run to separate from UTM and take a 1-0 advantage. In the set, Giovana Larregui López and Kaitlyn Flynn had four kills apiece while hitting at an average of .667 and .600, respectively. Meanwhile, Catalina Rochaix posted double-digit assists with 10.
The second set was neck-and-neck halfway through with both teams tied at 12, but then EIU exploded for five unanswered points as part of a 6-1 run. Eastern kept Martin at arms-length for the rest of the set and went up 2-0. Larregui López and Flynn once again led the EIU offense, this time matching each other with five kills. Larregui López finished the set with an overall hitting percentage of .600. Christina Martinez Mundo made some nice defensive plays as she racked up nine digs in the set.
The Panthers led the whole way in set three, as Kaitlyn Flynn powered her way to another five kills to help lead EIU to their twelfth victory of the season.Natalie Mitchem also bolstered the EIU attack with four kills in the set.
Kaitlyn Flynn led the EIU offense with a match-high 14 kills and .423 hitting percentage. She also added a block solo and block assist to her scoring efforts.
Giovana Larregui López had another strong showing, picking up her third straight double-double with 11 kills and 12 digs. She also recorded a .417 hitting percentage. It was her fourth contest of the season with a hitting percentage north of .400.
Natalie Mitchem also had a solid performance with nine kills for an average of three kills per set.
Catalina Rochaix handed out 30 assists on the night, recording exactly her average of 10 assists in each set. It was her eleventh match, and seventh consecutive, with 30 or more assists.
Christina Martinez Mundo again led the Panthers in digs with a match-high of 21 for an average of 7.0 digs per set. It was her seventh match with at least 20 digs.
Eastern finished with a team total of 8.5 blocks. They were led at the net by Natalie Mitchem with two solo blocks and a pair of block assists.
UT Martin was led by Olivia Saundrs with 8 kills while Kayla Carrell Kayla had a team-best 13 digs.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, LITTLE ROCK 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Recap coming soon.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (9-3, 1-0 OVC) opened Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday night against Morehead State (7-6, 0-1 OVC) with a 3-1 victory at Houck Field House.
SEMO won the match 25-23, 19-25, 25-19, and 25-23 to record their first conference victory of the season.
The Redhawks, trailing 23-18 in the fourth set, closed out the match on a 7-0 scoring run to down the Eagles in front of a crowd of 258.
Freshman Lucy Arndt, the reigning OVC Freshman of the Week, finished the match as the 'Player of the Game' with her 20 kills to lead all Redhawks. Arndt registered a .255 attack percentage, including 11 digs on the defensive side of the net.
Outside hitter Kayla Closset had a standout performance for the Redhawks on both offense and defense. The Naperville, Ill.-native finished with 17 kills on 52 attempts for a .212 hitting-percentage.
On defense, Closset recorded a perfect 1.000 reception percentage on 29 attempts, recording 15 digs in the process as well.
The Eagles were led in kills by Hollan Everett who finished with 16 kills. MSU, as a team, finished with a .163 hitting percentage including their game-high 68-percent attack percentage in the second set.
Izzy Lukens continued her impressive streak as the OVC Setter of the Week with 42 assists helping the Redhawks hit .160 as a team in the four-set thriller.
Freshman Nina Schuberth had a big contribution off the bench for SEMO's defense as she finished with 14 digs and served a total of 19 times with no errors.
The Redhawks will be back in action tomorrow, Sept. 23, to face Morehead State once again. First serve is slated for 2 p.m., CT. from Houck Field House.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - he Tennessee State volleyball team took down the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles in five sets (18-25, 25-17, 26-24, 16-25, 15-5) Friday on the road at Eblen Center. The victory improved the Tigers' record to 1-10 overall and 1-0 in OVC action.
The Tigers were led by a double-double from Jayla Holcombe, who registered 18 kills and 13 digs on the day. Celestial Miller also added 14 kills to help the attack. On the defensive end, Celianiz Cabranes chipped in for with 21 digs to go with 11 blocks from Kennedy Davis.
Madolyn Isringhausen led Tech with 19 kills while added 14 digs for the double-double. Ava Schubert also had 12 kills. Jillian Shaney had a team0high 16 digs in the match
SET 1 | The Tigers found themselves in an early hole, dropping a tough first set 25-18. Tennessee State trailed by as many as seven points as Tennessee Tech grabbed the advantage for good at 12-11 in a set that was knotted up three times before the Golden Eagles took control.
SET 2 | Tennessee State responded to pick up a 25-17 victory in the second set, evening the match at one set apiece. The Tigers grabbed control of the set lead early on at 2-1 and held the lead the rest of the way. Tennessee State led by as many as 10 points at 23-13 before closing out the set. Tennessee State's front row had a solid defensive performance, blocking four Tennessee Tech attacks in the stanza.
SET 3 | Tennessee State grabbed another win in the third set to make it a 2-1 match. The Tigers came out on top of a tight battle, winning 26-24 in a set that was tied nine times and had four lead changes. The Tigers racked up 17 kills over the course of the set. The Tennessee State offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza.
SET 4 | Tennessee State couldn't keep the win streak alive, as the Golden Eagles forced a fifth set with a 25-16 fourth-set win. The Tigers trailed by as many as nine points as Tennessee Tech grabbed the advantage for good at 12-11, and Tennessee State wasn't able to recover in a set that was knotted up eight times before the Golden Eagles took over.
SET 5 | Tennessee State took a two sets to one lead and fought off Tennessee Tech's rally attempt, which included a fourth set victory, to win the fifth set 15-5 and the match 3-2. The Tigers scored first and never trailed in set five to secure the victory. Tennessee State ended on a high note, opening its biggest lead of the stanza, 10 points, to close out the set. got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Tennessee Tech attacks in the stanza.
The two teams will be back in action on Saturday at noon.