KANSAS CITY - Southeast Missouri defeated Kansas City 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-15) on Saturday. SEMO hit .321 with 47 kills while holding the Roos to a .097 hitting percentage and 29 kills.

The Redhawks (6-6) created separation in the first set with two four-point serving stretches, first behind Nina Schuberth to build a 10-5 advantage and later behind Reagan Nelson to go from 13-9 to 17-9. Lucy Arndt had consecutive kills during the second stretch, and Southeast Missouri finished the set 25-16 on a block by Katherine St. John and Jacey Young.

SEMO turned the second set after trailing 14-12, scoring four straight points on Schuberth's serve to move ahead 16-14 behind her ace, an Alaina Lester kill and Lester block. Nelson supplied three late kills, and the Redhawks closed the set 25-19 on a block by Lester and Marin Johnson.

The Redhawks built separation early in the third set, using kills from Nelson and Arndt plus a Nelson ace to move in front 6-2. After the Roos got within 17-12, SEMO pushed back to 20-12 with help from a Nelson kill and a Schuberth ace. Nelson added three more kills from there, including the final point from Megan Holder, as Southeast Missouri took the set 25-15.
 

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GARDNER-WEBB 3, SIUE 1
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE volleyball battled Gardner-Webb to the final whistle Saturday morning, but the Cougars came up short in a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 18-25, 24-26) decision at the Winfield Dunn Center. 

SIUE got off to a strong start, taking the opening set 25-21 before Gardner-Webb responded by winning the next two. The Cougars then had themselves in position to force a fifth set while holding a 24-23 lead late in the fourth, but the Bulldogs rallied to score the next three points and close out the match 26-24. 

The Cougars found major success at the net throughout the match, finishing with 13 total blocks compared to Gardner-Webb's six. Vienna Elliott led SIUE with season-highs in kills (10), total blocks (7), service aces (2), digs (3), and points (15.5). Maddie Determan also made an impact defensively, recording a career-high eight blocks to go along with six kills. 

Sophomore Ally Hughes added another impressive performance to the match, recording her first double-double of the season with 20 assists and 15 digs.
 

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UT MARTIN 3, WEST GEORGIA 1
UT MARTIN 3, ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - A perfect run through the Skyhawk Classic was in store for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team today as it rolled to a 3-1 win over West Georgia (15-25, 25-16, 25-13, 25-16) and a 3-0 sweep against Arkansas-Pine Bluff (25-23, 25-20, 25-19).

Sophie Diouf (19 kills, 2.71 per set) and Carly Mueller (2.00 kills and 1.29 blocks per set) were the Skyhawks' point leaders today while Dylan Sulcer managed 52 assists (7.43 per set) and 21 digs (3.00 per set). Abby Freund ranked first on the squad today with 25 digs (3.57 per set) and three service aces while Lauren Mariscal (21 digs), Rylee Key (1.25 blocks per set), Maddy Gladson (1.00 blocks per set) and Mia Saenz (1.00 blocks per set) also led UT Martin, who now has won five straight decisions for the first time since an eight-match winning streak from Oct. 14 through Nov. 11, 2022.

Mueller was recognized as the Skyhawk Classic Most Valuable Player after tallying 31 kills (2.21 per set) on a .367 hitting percentage to go along with 19 blocks (1.36 per set). She was joined on the five-member All-Tournament team by Sulcer (8.86 assists per set, 2.14 digs per set, 15 kills, .343 attack percentage, eight blocks) and Gladson (2.30 kills per set, 0.90 blocks per set, 13 digs, three service aces).

UT Martin opens Ohio Valley Conference play next weekend, traveling to SIUE for matchups on Friday, Sept. 25 (6 p.m.) and Saturday, Sept. 26 (3 p.m.)

Sulcer turned in her first double-double of the season with 25 assists and 13 digs to help the Skyhawks to their first win of the day.

UT Martin held a pair of early leads in the opening set but the Wolves used a 6-0 run to lead 10-4 before a Chyler Martin kill got the Skyhawks back on track. West Georgia went on a 7-3 run soon thereafter but a pair of Key kills and a Penny Kirkham service ace pulled UT Martin back within striking distance at 20-14. Key's three kills in five swings (.600 hitting percentage) and Mariscal's five digs led the Skyhawks in the first set but the Wolves took the 1-0 advantage.

Key had two more kills as part of a 3-0 start to the second set for UT Martin. Back-to-back service aces from Gladson extended the Skyhawk lead out to six points before UT Martin ran away with it – leading by as many as 11 points en route to evening the matchup at 1-all. Gladson's four kills (on a .333 attack percentage) and two service aces paced the Skyhawks in the second stanza.

A Mariscal service ace gave UT Martin its first lead (4-3) of the third set and the Skyhawks never looked back from there. Mueller had a hand in three straight UT Martin points (two block assists plus a kill) before the Skyhawks put the set away with a 7-0 run late. Freund accounted for a service ace on set point to give UT Martin a 2-1 lead in the match. Gladson (four kills, three blocks) and Sulcer (seven digs) guided UT Martin in the third set.

Both sides jostled for momentum in the early stages of the fourth set as six ties took place in the first 12 combined points.  The Skyhawks then went on a 10-3 run, which featured a trio of blocks by Key. Diouf then caught the hot hand, compiling five kills in UT Martin's final six points of the match to cap off the victory. Diouf had six kills with zero errors in 12 swings (.500 hitting percentage) in the final set.

The Skyhawks fended off a pesky Lady Lions squad to complete a dominant week of volleyball.

The first set featured eight of the 22 tie scores in the match. Back-to-back kills from Luli Arcucci stretched UT Martin's lead out to 14-9 before a Mueller kill pushed the Skyhawk advantage out to 19-13. Arkansas-Pine Bluff eventually fought back to even the score at 23-all but a Diouf/Saenz assisted block and a Gladson kill gave UT Martin a 1-0 edge. Diouf tallied four of the Skyhawks' 16 kills in the opening set.

Eight more ties took place in the second stanza, the last of which occurred at 13-all. UT Martin answered with five consecutive points, including back-to-back kills from Arcucci to make the score 18-13. The Lady Lions would not get any closer than four points for the remainder of the set as yet another Arcucci rally killer – her fifth of the set – nudged the Skyhawks ahead by a 2-0 margin. Sulcer managed 13 assists and a team-best six digs in the middle stanza.

UT Martin took its first lead of the third set following a Reagan Hamm kill that made the score 14-13 and capped off a 7-2 Skyhawk run in the process. After Arkansas-Pine Bluff briefly reclaimed the lead at 16-15, UT Martin scored four unanswered points and eventually closed out the sweep with another Hamm kill. Hamm was a perfect 4-for-4 in kill/swing attempts while dishing out nine assists in the final set.
 

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MARSHALL 3, MOREHEAD STATE 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State volleyball team battled Marshall through three sets but were swept by the Thundering Herd 3-0 (19-25, 19-25, 20-25) Saturday afternoon in Ellis T. Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky.
 
Morehead State (4-6) was led by Ella Warrick and Hollan Everett with 10 kills apiece. Everett posted a .320 hitting percentage.
 
Marshall (7-4) was led by Maddie Smith with 15 kills with a .542 attack efficiency. Emma Barnett added 10 kills and posted six total blocks including two block solos.
 
In the opening set, Marshall got a four-point run to take a 13-7 lead. The teams traded 3-0 runs and Marshall took a 15-10 into the technical timeout. Morehead State rallied with a five-point run to even the score at 15-15.  The Herd responded, outscoring the Eagles 6-1, and closed out the frame with three straight points.
 
Marshall posted a .429 hitting percentage in the opening frame; they were led by Smith and Barnett with five kills apiece. Warrick paced the Eagle attack with five kills.
 
The second set was evenly played with nine ties and five lead changes into the middle stages of the set. A three-point run by Marshal gained the Herd some separation at 16-13; another three-point run put Marshall ahead 22-16.
 
Hollan Everett led the MSU attack with four kills in the frame on seven swings as the Eagles posted a .200 hitting percentage. Marshall's offense posted a .355 attack efficiency led by Smith with five kills on eight attacks.
 
The teams traded sideouts to begin the third set. Marshall ran off three-straight points to take a 9-5 lead and would never trail in the set again. After the Eagles evened the score at 14-14 with a 3-1 run, Marshall responded with a three-point run and closed out the match with another 3-0 run.
 

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LINDENWOOD 3, BRADLEY 2
PEORIA, Ill. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (10-2) picked up their fifth consecutive win with a 3-2 victory over Bradley (5-7) in the CEFCU Invitational finale on Saturday afternoon. Three Lions finished with double digit kills as LU improved their record to 2-0 in five set matches this season.

A strong start gave Lindenwood an early 6-1 lead in the opening frame but following an 11-5 Bradley run that put the Braves in front, the Lions were unable to recover and dropped the set by a score of 25-19. Susanna Beretti and Lauren Ortwerth led the Lions with four kills apiece in the set.

Bradley were unable to sustain their momentum in set two, briefly taking an early lead before a 14-3 Lindenwood run sent the match into the media timeout with the Lions holding a 15-6 advantage before coasting to 25-16 win.. The Lions kept things going in set three, taking a 25-18 win behind five more kills from Lauren Ortwerth, who grew her match total to 10 terminations.

Lindenwood was unable to close out the match in set four, losing grip of a four-point lead in the frame and eventually dropping the set by a score of 25-22. However, the Lions refused to be denied and pulled out a 15-13 win in back and forth fifth set, closing out the frame on a 5-1 run to extend their win streak to five matches.

Lauren Ortwerth led Lindenwood in the contest with 15 kills on a team-high .310 hitting percentage. It was the freshman's sixth time registering 10 or more digs in a match this season.

Susanna Beretti and Autumn Bax also recorded double digit kills, with Beretti posting 14 and Bax collecting 12 terminations. Beretti also added 10 digs for her second double double of the weekend.

Kaci Johnson matched Beretti with 10 digs while handing out 48 assists, while Alayna Rudebeck and Mandy Lawson tied for the team lead with 11 digs.
 

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GREEN BAY 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Western Illinois Women's Volleyball team played two hard fought matches against Green Bay.

The first set of match two ended with a final score of 11-25, and was a set that the Leathernecks just were unable to start off on the right foot, which led to the Phoenix being able to take over the set, and go on multiple long scoring runs.

Set two in match two was very competitive, with the teams trading points back and forth throughout, but the offense for the Phoenix just proved to be too much for the Leathernecks, resulting in an 18-25 final.

The third and final set of the match was one where Western Illinois was down early, but started to stage a comeback. The Leathernecks won 6 straight points during the set to bring the score to 19-22, before Green Bay took 3 straight points, to end the set and match.

The kills leader for Western Illinois in the match on Saturday was Kennedy Adair with eight, with Hillary Estes not far behind with seven. Alysia Perez and Jaleah Bauss were both the primary assistants, having 12 and nine respectively, with Perez having the lone ace for Western Illinois. Karlie Lane led Western with 10 digs as well.
 

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EVANSVILLE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball drops the second match in the series against the University of Evansville in a five-set battle inside Meeks Family Fieldhouse.
 
The Screaming Eagles wrapped up the last weekend of non-conference play with a split series against crosstown rival UE, sweeping the Aces on Friday night at home, and losing on Saturday at UE's court.
 
USI will move into Ohio Valley Conference play with a 5-7 record, and will kick off league play against defending champions Eastern Illinois University on September 25 & 26 on the road in Charleston, Illinois.
 
The Screaming Eagles handled a rough start at the Purple Aces' home court. USI was the strongest from the service line, landing five aces as a team, led by senior Ashby Willis with three. While the USI offense struggled to avoid errors around UE blocking effort, freshmen Aubrey Fair and Vita Sensenbrenner added two kills each. Sophomore Carley Wright got her match started, leading the team with four digs.
 
USI quickly took control in the second set, as Willis ramped up her production, adding six kills on just two errors for a .444 efficiency. The Screaming Eagles beat their set one aces total with six total in the second frame, led by junior Audrey Small with three and fifth-year Aspen Jankowski doubled her set one number with two more.
 
The Screaming Eagles dominated the net in the third, putting five blocks up to slow the Aces' offense down, an effort led by sophomore Mackenzie Nettles, who had hands on all five team blocks. Wright brought the intensity up on the offense, as she landed six kills, hitting a .500 efficiency. Small covered the back row action, picking up six digs.

Willis and Wright each added four kills in the fourth set. UE challenged the Screaming Eagles from the service line, landing five in the set. Nettles recorded two kills with no errors, pushing the USI momentum.
 
In the second fifth-set challenge of the season, the Screaming Eagles manage to push an early 3-0 lead. Wright steered the USI offense, landing six of the eight team kills, with just one error she hit a .556 to end the match. Willis landed the team's 15th ace, marking the most in a USI match since 2010.
 
For the match, Wright tallied a double-double, leading the team with 16 kills and 17 digs. Sophomore setter Aysa Thomas dished out 39 assists and 11 digs for the second double-double for the team, and three kills.
 
Willis tallied another five aces, for a total of 10 for the series with the Aces in Saturday's match, as the team recorded 15 total. Today's total marks the most aces a USI team has recorded since August 25, 2007 against Midwestern State University, and the most in the Division I era.