Lindenwood took round one in the battle of the unbeatens in OVC play, while Morehead State won a 5-set battle, UT Martin earned a 4-set home victory and SIUE picked up a sweep on Friday.
| FRIDAY'S SCORES |
| Lindenwood 3, @Southeast Missouri 1 |
BOX SCORE |
| @SIUE 3, Tennessee State 0 |
BOX SCORE |
| @UT Martin 3, Eastern Illinois 1 |
BOX SCORE |
| Morehead State 3, @Southern Indiana 2 |
BOX SCORE |
LINDENWOOD 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (15-2, 5-0 OVC) won three straight over SEMO (11-7, 4-1 OVC) to move its win streak to 10 in a battle of undefeated OVC foes.
With the opening set tied at four, SEMO used a pair of blocks to spark a 4-0 run to go up 8-4. The Redhawks remained in front by a comfortable margin and took the first set 25-16 behind a .467 hitting percentage. Three Lions had two kills apiece in the first set.
Lindenwood won the race to 10 in the second set following a kill by Autumn Bax to grab an early lead. The Lions continued to hold the advantage up 14-10, but SEMO responded with a mini 3-0 run to cut the deficit one. On the ensuing point, Kylee Richey came up with a solo stuff to give the Black and Gold a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. The Lions continued to take control of the set as a kill from Richey put Lindenwood up 24-19. However, SEMO closed the gap to 24-23, but Susanna Beretti put the set away, tying it up at one.
Both teams went back and forth to begin the third. A block by Bax and Jade Roth put Lindenwood in front, 10-7. The Rehawks responded and jumped in front 15-13. Still trailing 18-15, the Lions rattled off the next four points, capped off by a kill from Roth to take a 20-18 lead. A few points later, Beretti finished off the set once again and Lindenwood led 2-1 after three.
In the fourth, an Ashley Geluk service ace put Lindenwood up 8-4 and forced a SEMO timeout. A few points later, another ace from Kaci Johnson grew the lead to 13-6. The Redhawks answered with the next five points to get back within two. SEMO eventually took the lead, 18-16 which forced a Lindenwood timeout. Coming out of the break, the Lions settled down. A kill by Lauren Ortwerth put the Black and Gold up 21-19. They eventually saw out the match with a block by Roth putting things away, 25-22.
Three Lions finished the match with double-digit kills led by Ortwerth with 16. Bax and Geluck had 13 apiece with Geluk hitting a solid .522. The victory moved Lindenwood's winning streak to 10.
SIUE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball found themselves back in the win column Friday night, sweeping Tennessee State in straight sets (25-16, 25-22, 25-12) at First Community Arena to earn its second Ohio Valley Conference victory of the season.
The Cougars battled with the Tigers early in the opening set before closing with a 10-2 run to secure a 25-16 win. The second set proved to be more competitive, with the teams tied at 16-16 before Tennessee State built a three-point lead at 22-19. SIUE was later able to respond with six consecutive points to close out the set 25-22 and take a two-set advantage.
SIUE carried that momentum into the third set, limiting Tennessee State to just three kills while recording 13 of their own. The Cougars pulled away to claim a 25-12 victory and complete the sweep.
Kennedy Pike led SIUE offensively with 12 kills on 19 attempts without an error, finishing with a .632 hitting percentage. Vienna Elliott added seven kills while hitting .500 and contributed two blocks.
Junior Jehireh Williams turned in one of her strongest performances as a Cougar, matching a season high with seven kills on a .417 hitting percentage and adding three blocks.
UT MARTIN 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball squad got back in the win column this evening, topping defending Ohio Valley Conference champion Eastern Illinois in four sets (20-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-12) at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
UT Martin hit a crisp .218 as a team and turned away 12 blocks at the net, improving to 7-9 overall with a 2-3 mark in OVC play. The Skyhawks improved their attack percentage in each set (.118/.186/.262/.321) while the defense took over late, holding the Panthers to a -.115 hitting percentage (five kills against eight errors) in 26 swings in the final set.
Dylan Sulcer ran the UT Martin offense efficiently tonight, posting a stat line of 34 assists, 14 digs, six kills on a .462 attack percentage and three blocks. It marked the third double-double of the season for the senior out of Brentwood, Tenn.
Sophie Diouf (12 kills on a .345 hitting percentage) led three Skyhawks who racked up double-digit kills as she was joined by Luli Arcucci (11) and Maddy Gladson (10). Arcucci also landed a pair of service aces while the UT Martin defense was headed by the trio of Lauren Mariscal (18 digs), Abby Freund (season-best 16 digs) and Mia Saenz (season-high six blocks, all in the final three sets).
The Skyhawks opened up a 9-5 lead to start the match but Eastern Illinois (2-14, 1-4 OVC) took the opening set. The Panthers used a 9-1 run midway through the set to lead by as many as five points before an Arcucci kill closed the UT Martin gap to one at 21-20. However, Eastern Illinois scored the final four points of the set. Sulcer had two kills, seven assists and five digs in the first stanza.
The second set began with a 7-1 Skyhawk run as Arcucci produced a kill and a two service aces during that span. After a Gladson kill extended UT Martin's advantage out to 16-13, the Panthers responded with a 10-4 run. With the Skyhawks facing set point (24-23), Sulcer and Arcucci powered through for clutch kills before an Eastern Illinois attack error evened the match at 1-all. Freund made plays all over the court in the second set, registering eight digs.
After the Panthers took a 9-6 lead in the third stanza, Arcucci had a hand in four of the next five UT Martin points (three kills, one block assist). That spurred a 12-2 Skyhawk surge and UT Martin never trailed from that point forward. The score was knotted at 21-21 but Carly Mueller slammed down a pair of kills to help the Skyhawks take the 2-1 lead in the match. Gladson and Diouf each had four kills apiece with zero errors between them in 16 swings while Saenz rejected three blocks in the third set.
It was all UT Martin in the fourth stanza as the Skyhawks raced out to a 10-3 advantage. The closest that Eastern Illinois would get the rest of the way was four points as a Diouf kill opened up a double-digit lead for UT Martin at 19-9. Diouf followed with two more kills late as the Skyhawks coasted to the finish line. Diouf (four kills, .667 hitting percentage) and Saenz (three blocks) helped UT Martin complete its comeback.
MOREHEAD STATE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Morehead State volleyball team dropped the first set then rebounded to outlast Southern Indiana in a five-set slugfest 3-2 (18-25, 25-21-25-23, 25-27, 17-15) Friday night in Liberty Arena in Evansville, Indiana.
Morehead State (7-8, 2-2 OVC) had a balanced attack led by senior Hollan Everett, who posted a match-high 21 kills, her third straight match with 20-plus terminations. Freshman Ella Warrick slammed 14 kills and added a match-high (and career-high) 24 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
Senior middle Amelia Nott added 13 kills, posting a .313 hitting percentage while turning back five total blocks up front.
Southern Indiana (6-9, 1-2 OVC) was led by senior outside Ashby Willis with 21 kills, sharing match honors with Morehead State's Everett. Sophomore Carley Wright posted 20 kills with a .302 hitting percentage.
In the fifth set, Southern Indiana answered a quick MSU start with a 5-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. The Eagles responded with two three-point runs to surge ahead 12-9. USI roared back with a 4-0 run to take the lead 13-12. Morehead State held off a match point and closed out the match with a 3-0 run.
After leading through most of the first set, Southern Indiana broke out of a 13-13 tie with eight straight points to take a 22-13 lead and coasted to the set win. Morehead State posted a .042 hitting percentage while USI hit .125.
Morehead State squared up the match in the second set. Southern Indiana took an early 6-2 lead after a five-point run. The Eagles responded with a 5-0 run of their own to edge ahead 10-8 and then outscored the Screaming Eagles 9-3 to take a 20-16 lead into the final stretch of the frame. MSU posted a .176 hitting percentage while USI hit .000.
The Morehead State attack revved up in the third set; the Eagles posted a .317 hitting percentage led by Nott with five kills in the frame while posting a .444 hitting percentage. The Eagles were also strong at the net with a 4-0 advantage in blocks. Freshman Haidyn Carter led the effort up front with two blocks in the frame.
The fourth set was tightly contested with ten ties before the technical timeout and 14 in total in the frame. Morehead State used a late 6-1 run to take a 21-19 lead over Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles answered with a 3-0 run to inch ahead 22-21 and outlasted MSU to send the match to the tiebreaker. Morehead State posted a .282 attack efficiency in the set to .227 for USI.