Ohio Valley Conference

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UT MARTIN 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE - A scintillating .308 attack percentage and 16 service aces led to a University of Tennessee at Martin victory today as the Skyhawks outlasted Tennessee State by a 3-2 margin (22-25, 25-14, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9) in Ohio Valley Conference volleyball action.
           
The hitting percentage and service ace totals were both season-highs as UT Martin flew past the previous benchmark of .292 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Sept. 6) and doubling the prior season-high in service aces (set three times). The 16 service aces were one shy of the school record, previously set six times and as recently as Sept. 20, 2014 against Stetson.
           
Kristin Phillips led the Skyhawks (5-16, 3-9 OVC) with 14 kills on a .385 attack percentage today while Kylie Surratt (13 kills) and Addy Vaughn (12 kills on a .435 hitting percentage) also reached double figures in the kill column. Katie Cruise (29 assists) and Hannah Haislip (19 assists) directed the efficient offensive attack.
           
On the defensive end, Dylan Mott scooped up a team-best 17 digs with a career-high five service aces and six assists. Vaughn was responsible for a team-high five blocks while Cruise narrowly missed a double-double with nine digs. Kayla Bryant also produced a solid all-around effort as the junior from Louisville, Ky. landed a career-best six service aces to go along with nine kills, a .250 attack percentage and five digs today.
           
Both sides jostled for momentum in the early stages of the opening set. After the Tigers took a 13-9 advantage, UT Martin charged back to knot the score at 14-all. Tennessee State responded with six of the next seven points before two kills and two block assists out of Maddy Gladson pulled the Skyhawks back within one as late as 23-22. However, the Tigers scored back-to-back points to take a 1-0 lead in the match. UT Martin hit .346 in the first stanza while Vaughn rejected three blocks.
           
The next two sets were an offensive clinic for the Skyhawks, starting with a .417 attack percentage (12 kills against just two errors in 24 swings) in the second stanza. Surratt began the second set with back-to-back kills to help UT Martin take a 10-5 lead. The Skyhawk lead shrunk to two points before a 9-0 run iced the set for UT Martin. Mott had a pair of service aces while four different Skyhawks (Cruise, Bryant, Jenna Vallée and Phillips) each had kills during the extended surge.
           
UT Martin hit .448 with 17 kills in the third stanza, led by five kills in six attempts from Phillips (.667 attack percentage). Despite that, Tennessee State began the set with six unanswered points as part of a 9-2 advantage. It was all Skyhawks from that point forward as a 14-2 UT Martin run completely flipped the momentum. Bryant had four service aces in the final five points of the run to help the Skyhawks go ahead 2-1 in the match.
           
The UT Martin serving momentum continued in the fourth set as Cruise and Mott each earned aces to help the Skyhawks lead 6-3. UT Martin led 12-11 before five consecutive Tiger points gave Tennessee State a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the set. Another Skyhawk service ace – this time by Makaelah Paulino – pulled UT Martin with one point (23-22) late but the Tigers were able to force a fifth set. Vaughn's four kills on a .444 hitting percentage paced the Skyhawks in Set 4.
           
The decisive fifth set was tight early before UT Martin wrapped up the match on an 8-1 run. Surratt slammed down kills on consecutive rallies while Cruise handed out a pair of assists with a service ace during a four-point stretch for the Skyhawks. Vaughn (three kills) and Mott (eight digs) stood out in the abbreviated fifth set to help UT Martin to a weekend split.

TENNESSEE TECH 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - It was a big bounce back for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles rode a wave of strong offense and tenacity to get the job done in a 3-1 win over a Southeast Missouri squad that had won nine consecutive Ohio Valley Conference matches heading into the day.

Tech (17-7, 6-6) piled up 60 kills and 10 service aces throughout the match, capturing its own advantages along the margins after seeing the reverse side of things in Friday's five-set loss to the Redhawks (13-11, 10-2).

Saturday's tilt started a little precarious for the purple and gold, with SEMO jumping out to an early, 9-3 lead. The home squad kept that six-point advantage up to a 13-7 score, but the Golden Eagles flipped a switch.

Tech dropped an 11-1 run to take an 18-14 lead of its own, powered by a trio of Jordan Karlen service aces. Southeast Missouri pulled to within a point down the stretch, but Tech rolled off four straight points to finish off a 25-20 win.

Set two saw both sides go back and forth most of the way, that is until the Golden Eagles spun four straight points to break a 16-16 draw. That momentum proved plenty as the purple and gold powered its way to a 25-19 win and a 2-0 lead.

SEMO finally got its footing for set three, opening a large lead early and never really allowing the Tech squad to get going. The Redhawks kept their hopes alive with a 25-19 decision while the Golden Eagles struggled to the tune of just 10 kills and 10 attack errors.

The Cookeville crew flipped that script to another level to close out the match in set four, fighting back from a 17-15 deficit late. Striking for a 10-1 run to close the match, Tech exploded for nine kills over that span to lock down a 25-18 victory.

The purple and gold delivered a mind-blowing 21 terminations in the set while making just five errors. Middle blocker Elena Wallace was nearly perfect, accounting for six kills on just eight swings for a .750 attack. Outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen and right side Ava Schubert chipped in six and five strikes, respectively.

For the match, Isringhausen led the Cookeville crew with 14 total kills, mixing in nine digs and a service ace. The ace represented the 150th of the senior's career, making her just the third Golden Eagle in program history to reach the milestone.

Three other members of purple and gold delivered double-digit kills on the night, with Wallace crushing .550 with a Tech career-high of 12 terminations. Rookie outside Alayna Pierce also provided a dozen smashes while racking up 16 digs for her sixth double-double on the year. Schubert rounded out the group with a season-high 10 kills.

Freshman middle blocker Mallory Jenkins nearly made it five Golden Eagles in the double-figure club, sporting nine strikes on a .474 attack to go with a team-high five total blocks. Tying her season high of three service aces was freshman defensive specialist Katie Green.

Quarterbacking the Tech effort on offense, setter Jordan Karlen turned in her 13th double-double of the season, beginning with a spectacular showing of 50 assists. Chipping in a team-high 21 digs, she also added three blocks and three aces. Senior libero McKenna Young clocked in with 20 digs of her own while assisting on five digs.

SIUE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Cougar volleyball (10-13, 5-7 OVC) takes the second game of the series against Southern Indiana (8-16, 3-9 OVC). SIUE led the charge in the second game putting up 42 total blocks, a new team high. The Cougars broke their record of 27 total blocks in 2001 against Indianapolis.
 
Freshman Taya Nordmann led the charge putting up 12 block assists, a new single-game high, and two solo blocks. This puts Nordmann back on top leading the OVC with 115 total blocks this season averaging 1.21 per set.
 
Outside Ainsley Ranstead followed with seven block assists and one solo block. Middle Nicole Medlin contributed six block assists, along with 17 kills hitting at a .263 clip.
 
First Community Arena saw strong performances from outside Sydney Hummert who had 15 kills hitting at a .244 percentage, 4 block assists, one solo block and 17 digs. Hummert reached her 1,000th career dig against USI.
 
Outside Bree Schreiman contributed 11 kills four block assists and two solo blocks.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, LITTLE ROCK 0
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Western Illinois volleyball inks their first winning season since 2005 in dominant fashion, sweeping the Little Rock Trojans. In an anticipated rematch of two top-four teams in the Ohio Valley Conference, WIU jumped out early and never looked back as they rolled to a 3-0 victory.

Western Illinois found the hot hand of Keyana Cruse early in Saturday's matchup. Cruse would have the first three points for WIU as they opened up a 3-1 lead in the first set. WIU kept the run rolling as a kill by Brittany Wulf, and back-to-back blocks saw WIU jump in front 7-2. Little Rock put together a run, closing the gap midway through at 11-9 before WIU returned to Cruse with a pair of service aces. The Trojans hung around, tying the set at 19 a piece, but Cruse would answer the call for WIU with three kills in a row as WIU won the first set 25-23.

Western Illinois took all the momentum early in set two. Jumping out in front 6-2 as Grace Ulatowski, Grace Nichols, Cruse, and Wulf all teamed up for kills. Little Rock cut the deficit to two (7-5), but that is as close as they would get as WIU rolled. Kills by Nichols, Cruse, and Wulf highlighted the middle portion of the set. A service ace and a pair of kills by Elizabeth Ziegler highlighted the latter half as the Leathernecks took the second set 25-13.

Back-and-forth action was the name of the third set, as the score was tied 9 times before both teams were tied at 10-10. The back and forth did not stop there, as the set was tied three more times before WIU gained separation. Ziegler's kill and a Karlie Lane service ace sent WIU into the media timeout up 15-13. Wulf added another kill to her stat line out of the break as WIU increased their lead by three. The lead stayed at three until Cruse stepped back to the service line. Back-to-back aces pushed WIU up five (22-17) and forced a Trojan timeout. Little Rock chipped back into the set as WIU called a timeout up 23-21, but back-to-back kills by Wulf and Cruse ended the match.

Keyana Cruse notched another double-double with 23 kills and 25 digs. The senior hit at a .377% and contributed four service aces. Brittany Wulf also found double digits with 12 kills, hitting over .300. Maggie Craker dished out 47 assists. Karli Wenzel led the way with 23 digs.