Ohio Valley Conference

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - It was a record-setting night for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball program as the Skyhawks earned a hard-fought 3-2 triumph (25-15, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13) at Ohio Valley Conference rival Southern Indiana.
           
Redshirt freshman Dylan Sulcer became just the seventh different player in UT Martin's NCAA Division I history (since 1992) to record a triple-double. The Brentwood, Tenn. native amassed career-best tallies of 11 kills, 13 assists and 14 digs while also setting a career-high with five blocks.
           
Skyhawk head coach Jaclynn Wilson joined in on the historic evening as the victory was the 111th of her UT Martin career – passing Chris Rushing (1998-2004) as the program's all-time NCAA Division I wins leader.
           
Several Skyhawks had a major hand in tonight's triumph as Dylan Mott (32 digs including a whopping 15 in the fourth set alone, career-best 13 assists), Kayla Bryant (season-high 15 kills, 12 digs, team-best three service aces) and Katie Cruise (24 assists, career-high 15 digs) each had double-doubles. Kylie Surratt matched Bryant for a team-high with 15 kills while Jenna Vallée added 12 kills. Kristin Phillips and Addy Vaughn chipped in career-highs of seven and six blocks apiece for UT Martin, whose 15 blocks nearly doubled their previous season-high of eight against Grambling on Aug. 30.
           
UT Martin (3-9, 1-2 OVC) rolled right out of the gate, scoring seven of the first nine points of the match. The Skyhawks eventually opened up a double-digit lead (18-8) on the Screaming Eagles before Sulcer helped close out the stanza with three kills in a span of five points. Surratt had four kills with zero errors in eight swings (.500 attack percentage) to help UT Martin take a 1-0 advantage.
           
The Skyhawks led 6-3 to start Set 2 but Southern Indiana clawed back to soon take a 13-11 advantage. A Bryant kill and back-to-back blocks from Phillips helped UT Martin eventually pull to within a single point (22-21) but the Screaming Eagles evened the match after reeling off three straight points. Bryant's five kills paced the Skyhawks in the second stanza.
           
Just as it had done in the first two sets, UT Martin got off to a fast start by scoring six of the first eight points in the third stanza. Moments later, the Skyhawks unspooled a 5-0 run and never trailed for the remainder of the set as UT Martin took a 2-1 lead in the match. Bryant once again guided the Skyhawks in kills (four) in the set.
           
Mott made plays all over the court in the fourth set but Southern Indiana (6-9, 1-2 OVC) forced a winner-take-all fifth set. UT Martin found itself in a 4-0 hole and although the Skyhawks battled back to tie the score at 5-5, the Screaming Eagles did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the stanza. Surratt's five kills and Mott's 15 digs were the story for UT Martin in the fourth set.
           
The decisive fifth set featured many runs. The Skyhawks scored the first five points before Southern Indiana scored nine of the next 10 points. UT Martin quickly recovered to the tune of a 6-1 surge before closing out the victory courtesy of a Vallée kill. Vallée was the most valuable Skyhawk in the final set, landing five kills in five swings for a flawless 1.000 hitting percentage,

LINDENWOOD 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 2
MACOMB, Ill. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (9-6, 3-0 OVC) went the distance on Tuesday night defeating Western Illinois (8-6, 2-1 OVC) in five sets in Macomb, Ill. The Lions posted 74 kills against the Leathernecks while reaching 100 digs for the first time in the Division I era.

Rebecca Janke had a career night as the graduate student had a career-high 20 kills in the win. Janke hit .362 as she led the team in attacks with 47 posting just three errors. She became just the third player in Lindenwood history (NCAA era) to go over 900 kills for their career. Lindenwood's offense had four Lions post over tens kills including Ashley Geluck with 18. Autumn Bax (12) and Nyah Wilson (11) also went into double-figures.

The defense was a vital part in the Lions victory on Tuesday as they posted 100 digs. Lindenwood's libero Jessie Seidel led the way with 29 marking her second highest total of the season. Five different players had over 10 digs including Dana Grib coming off the bench with 13. Addy McAleer also had nine kills and 16 digs.

Allie Otten powered the offense as the primary setter passing for 57 assists against Western Illinois. It marked her new career-high in assists and the sixth time in her career she has gone over 50. Otten also had 13 assists for her ninth double-double of the season.

Lindenwood's offense produced 17 kills during the first set but had nine attack errors to help the Leathernecks take the set by a score of 25-18. Middles Geluck and Janke had five and four kills respectively to lead the Lions offense during the first. Seidel also produced 10 digs on defense. 

The Lions bounced back in the second set with a reversal score of 25-18. Five different Lindenwood players had a kill including five from outside hitter Wilson. Defensively, Wilson added eight digs. The Lions hit .300 during the second set.

Western Illinois took advantage of an early lead in the third set going up 10-18 on Lindenwood. The Lions battled back to close the gap to 21-23 but WIU closed the set winning 25-22. Janke had six of her 20 kills in the third set.

It was all Lindenwood the rest of the night as they took the fourth set by the largest margin of victory of the night (nine points) winning 25-19. Lindenwood hit a match-high .325 while posting 16 kills and only three errors. McAleer added five kills while Otten had 10 assists and two aces.

Lindenwood closed out the fifth set on Tuesday winning 15-13 earning their fourth straight victory. LU went up 8-4 going into the middle of the set, but WIU tied it up at 13-13. WIU had two attack errors to finish the set including an error into a block by Janke and McAleer. Janke also had four kills in the closing set.