SATURDAY'S SCORES
Tennessee State 3, @Tennessee Tech 2
Eastern Illinois 3, @UT Martin 1
@Southern Indiana 3, Little Rock 1
@Southeast Missouri 3, Morehead State 0
@Lindenwood 3, SIUE 1
TENNESSEE STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - The Tennessee State Tiger Volleyball team showed impressive determination and contributions from several players in the 3-2 win over the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Friday on the road at Eblen Center. The victory gave them a sweep of the team that was picked to finish first in the OVC. The sweep moved the Tigers' record to 2-10 overall and 2-0 in OVC play. Counting last season, this is the ninth victory in a row for TSU against OVC opponents and their fourth straight against Tech. TTU only lost four conference games last season, two coming against the Tigers.
The Tigers played without setter Hennesys Lalane, who had a double-double last night of 43 assists and 16 digs, but got a great effort from her replacement, freshman setter Alanys Otero who had a double-double of her own with 47 assists and 17 digs. TSU had four players with double figures in kills, led by Jayla Holcombe, who finished with 23 on the day. Aleksandra Rojecka added 12. Celestial Miller and Gabrielle Johnson chipped in with ten apiece. Defensively, three freshmen players reached double figures in digs, including Celianiz Cabranes' 26, 17 from Otero, and 13 more from Jadyn Webb. From the front row, Kennedy Davis contributed seven blocks.
SET 1 | 26-28 Holcolmbe's Heroics Not Enough
The Tigers dropped a close first set, losing 28-26 in a game tied nine times and having four lead changes. Holcombe was huge in the set with eight kills, a .316 hitting percentage, and two block assists. TSU started slow, going down 6-2 early before crawling back in the set, eventually taking a 19-18 lead. The Tigers had three set points but couldn't finish Tech off. Otero had 13 helpers in the set; Johnson had three kills and a .333 hitting percentage. 11 total errors in the set plagued TSU.
SET 2 | 25-23 Tigers Hold on To Tie The Match at One
Tennessee State tied the match at 1-1 after a 25-23 victory in set two. The Tigers led from wire to wire in the set, opening it up as much as a six-point lead at 7-1 before closing out the set. Down 8-2, Tech got back in the set with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to two points, forcing TSU to call a timeout. TTU eventually tied the match at 15 but committed three straight attack errors to give TSU an 18-15 lead. The Tigers extend the run to 6-1 to go up 21-16. Tech made it interesting by chipping away and closing the lead to one at 24-23. Holcombe's ninth kill of the set gave TSU the win.
SET 3 | 20-25 Tiger Comeback Falls Short
Tennessee Tech went ahead 2-1 in the match after taking down the Tigers in set three. TSU never led in the set, falling behind 18-2 before making a comeback. An 11-0 run got the Tigers back in the set. TSU cut the lead to two twice before TTU scored four of the last five points to finish the set.
SET 4 | 25-18 TSU Leads Wire to Wire to Force Fifth Set
Tennessee State then responded to secure the fourth set 25-18 to force a fifth set. The late momentum from the previous set seemed to give the Tigers the energy they needed. Tennessee State opened up as much as a seven-point lead at 19-12 before closing out the stanza, totaling 15 kills in the process. After TSU took a 15-10 lead before the media break, the Tigers went on two 2-1 spurts to force two TTU timeouts and give TSU the cushion they needed to take the set. A 4-1 run wrapped it up. Davis had two kills during the run, and TTU had two attack errors. A sensational save by Webb on the 24th point also was a key to the run.
SET 5 | 15-12 6-0 Run Gives The Tigers The Sweep
Down two sets to one, Tennessee State powered back to win the final two sets, culminating in a 15-12 fifth-set victory, to take the match 3-2. The Tigers took set five and the game despite trailing by five points at 9-4 before fighting back to secure the victory. Tennessee State jumped in front at 10-9 on a 6-0 run and hung on for a set win.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Eastern Illinois volleyball team closed out their first week of Ohio Valley Conference play with another win, this time defeating UT Martin by a score of 3-1. The victory brings Eastern's OVC record to 3-0 and their overall record to 13-1. The final set scores of this afternoon's match were as follows: 23-25, 25-12, 25-21, and 25-17.
The Panthers jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the first set, but the Skyhawks clawed their way back and eventually overtook EIU before holding them off to win the set. Giovana Larregui López led the offense with five kills in the set.
In set two, EIU bounced back in a big way, opening the set with a 7-1 run and then expanding their lead to 13 points as they evened up the match. Natalie Mitchem had a huge set with seven kills, while Catalina Rochaix handed out 11 assists.
The Panthers kept things rolling in set three and built up an 18-10 lead before the Skyhawks punched back with a 6-0 run to close the gap. However, it was not enough, as Eastern regained control and won the set to take a 2-0 lead. This time it was Kaitlyn Flynn's turn to lead the EIU attack, as the junior racked up five kills.
The Panthers finished things off in the fourth set, gaining an early lead and then closing the set out on a 5-1 run to move to a perfect 3-0 in conference play and a fantastic 13-1 overall. EIU was aided by five kills from Larregui López and three each from Flynn and freshman Layne Witherspoon.
Larregui López led the match in kills, collecting a total of 15. In addition, she tallied 15 digs to record her fourth straight double-double. In the Panthers' three matches this week, the senior stacked up 51 kills (4.25 KPS) on a .369 hitting percentage while also recording 40 digs (3.33 DPS). She also had six blocks and six service aces.
Larregui López was closely followed by Natalie Mitchem and Kaitlyn Flynn who both had 13 kills in the match. Mitchem finished with an outstanding .520 hitting percentage, her highest of the season. It was Flynn's third consecutive game with at least 13 kills.
Freshman Layne Witherspoon stepped up big for the Panthers, recording eight kills and three blocks in the match. Both numbers were season highs.
Catalina Rochaix eclipsed 40 assists for the fifth time this season, and she collected 45 on the afternoon for an average of 11.25 assists per set.
Christina Martinez Mundo had a fantastic performance at the libero position. The senior finished the match with a season-high 34 digs with an average of 8.5 digs per set. She also got the job done offensively, recording five assists with a setting percentage of .700.
SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, LITTLE ROCK 1
LITTLE ROCK , Ark. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball rose above the .500 mark for the first time in Ohio Valley Conference action by defeating the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 3-0, Saturday afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. USI, which also posted its first-ever conference sweep in Division I play, finished the weekend 6-8 overall, 2-1 in the OVC, while Little Rock goes to 3-10, 0-2 OVC.
The Screaming Eagles started the match with a 25-18 victory in the opening set, using a 14-3 run to get the win. USI had fallen behind, 15-11, before surging in the final 17 points. Senior outside hitter Abby Bednar (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and sophomore middle hitter Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) led the attack with three kills each, while Bednar added a pair of aces.
The second set saw USI take control quickly and methodically, building a 15-10 advantage, and cruised to a 25-17 win to lead the match 2-0. The Eagles hit a .311 (17-3-45) during the set that saw senior outside hitter Leah Anderson (Bloomington, Illinois) record nine kills.
USI clinched the 3-0 decision by once again rallying from behind. The Eagles, trailing 15-9, went on a 8-2 surge to regain command, 20-17. The Trojans, however, tried to put together a rally of their own, closing the gap to 23-22 before Eagles closed out the set 25-23.
For the match, Leah Anderson led the way with 12 kills, posting a .267 attacking percentage, and 13.0 total points. Bianca Anderson followed with 10 kills, a team-best .471 hitting percentage, and 11.5 total points.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
CAPE GIRADEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (10-3, 2-0 OVC) completed the sweep of Morehead State (7-7, 0-2 OVC) Saturday afternoon with a 3-0 victory at Houck Field House.
SEMO beat the Eagles in three straight sets 25-22, 25-17, and 26-16 to stay undefeated in conference play.
With the score 13-12, the Redhawks went on a 12 to four run to close out the game while 202 fans cheered on. SEMO chalked up 15 more assists and kills than the Eagles in the 3-0 sweep.
Junior setter Izzy Lukens dished out 36 assists to be named "Player of the Game". The reigning OVC setter of the week has tallied 30 plus assists in eight straight games. Lukens also added four kills to the stat sheet, one of which was a beautiful one handed dump in the second set.
Lucy Arndt and Kaelyn O'Brien both had nine kills which led the Redhawks. Arndt also added eight digs with a .185 clip, while O'Brien posted a kill rate of .278.
Talia Gouard had a hitting percentage of .583 for a team high. Gouard had eight kills on 12 attempts with only one attacking error.
On the defensive side Tara Beilsmith recorded 17 digs to lead the Redhawks in that category. Kayla Closset also got double digit digs recording ten.
Freshman Nina Schuberth contributed on the serving side with four serving aces. Schuberth also tallied seven digs and one assist.
Morehead State's leader in kills was M. E. Hargan with ten. The Eagles finished with 28 kills compared to SEMO's 43.
The Redhawks will be on the road next weekend to take on SIUE in Edwardsville, Ill. Game one will be Friday, September 29 at 6:00 p.m. and game two is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m on Saturday. The match will be held at the First Community Arena.
LINDENWOOD 3, SIUE 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Lindenwood women's volleyball captures a 3-1 victory over their river rival SIUE (6-7, 0-2 OVC) after a career day from Addy McAleer who posted 23 kills in the win. The Lions hit .224 on the evening with three players with double-digit kills.
McAleer attacked early and often for the Lions as they took the first set by a score of 25-22. She was the team leader with six kills in the first and was one of six players with at least one kill. Lindenwood also earned three service aces in the set from Nyah Wilson, McAleer and Rebecca Janke.
The Lions and Cougars went back and forth resulting in eight ties and four lead changes. After trailing 19-20 late, Lindenwood stormed back to score the next six of eight points. SIUE was held to a .132 hitting percentage in the first.
SIUE seemed to have the second set locked up throughout, but the Lions eventually came back to take the second 26-24. The Lions trailed 11-18 in the set after Priscilla Jones punched down a service ace. LU was able to chip away point by point before eventually tying the set at 24-24.
Janke would go on to score the final two points of the set to put Lindenwood up 2-0 heading into the third. McAleer added another five kills while Wilson added three. In total, Lindenwood had 15 kills in the second with a .256 hitting percentage. Allie Otten also had six of her assists in the second.
The Cougars claimed their lone set victory in the third by a score of 23-25. SIUE controlled the majority of the set despite the Lions posting 14 kills and a .233 hitting percentage. LU trailed 17-21 and climbed back to 23-24 before McAleer ended the third with an attack error.
Lindenwood never waivered as they eventually closed out the match with a 25-21 fourth set victory. McAleer added another six kills to close out the match. The match ended with a service error by Julia Treichel to give Lindenwood a 2-0 start to Ohio Valley Conference play.
Janke added a total of 11 kills and five blocks to the Lion attack while Wilson added 10 kills and 15 digs. Libero Jessie Seidel had 15 digs and six assists along with two kills. Otten led the Lions with 32 assists.