FRIDAY'S SCORES
Murray State 3, James Madison 0 (25-23, 35-19, 25-18)
Eastern Illinois 3, Bryan 1 (25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20)
Morehead State 3, Utah 1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-22)
Syracuse 3, Tennessee Tech 1 (20-25, 25-12, 25-21, 25-15)
Tennessee Tech 3, Northwestern State 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-14)
UT Martin 3, Citadel 0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-13)
Jacksonville State 3, Long Island 0 (25-13, 25-17, 30-28)
@Mercer 3, UT Martin 1 (25-18, 28-26, 16-25, 25-19)
North Carolina 3, Southeast Missouri 1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-15, 25-13)
@Appalachian State 3, Eastern Kentucky 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-15)
@Ball State 3, Tennessee State 0 (25-5, 25-13, 25-19)
Eastern Illinois 3, @Harvard 1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-13, 25-19)
@Indiana State 3, SIU Edwardsville 2 (25-15, 25-19, 24-26, 18-25, 16-14)
MURRAY STATE 3, JAMES MADISON 0
CINCINNATI - The Murray State volleyball team opened the Bearcat Invitational on the right foot, earning a sweep, 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-18) of James Madison. The win was the first for the Racers (1-4) in the 2010 season, the second-straight over the Dukes (3-1) and JMU's first loss of the year.
MSU was led by a duo of seniors' in Becca Lamb and Ashley Nenninger. Lamb tallied a team-high .360 (9k-0e-25ta) hitting percentage and added three blocks, seven digs and two service aces. Nenninger garnered a team-best 10 kills, with five blocks (3-2) and a.261 (10-4e-23ta) hitting percentage.
Defensively, the Racers saw double-digit dig performances from three players. Junior Kayleah Sauer led the team with 17 digs, with freshman Katlyn Hudson added 12 and sophomore Lydia Orf contributing 11.
The teams traded points at the start of the first set, but it was JMU who earned the first lead of the set, with a 5-1 run that opened the score to 4-7, in their favor. The Racers then started a come-back a few serves later and went on a 6-3 run that tied the set at 12. The Dukes and MSU traded the next four serves before the Racers took a 17-14 lead and never allowed JMU to get closer than one point the rest of the set. MSU took a 24-20 advantage, but the Dukes held off a Racers victory for three points before a kill by red-shirt freshman Wendi Zickfield ended the set in favor of MSU, 25-23.
JMU opened the second set by garnering the first two points, but the Racers then strung together a 9-1 run to take control of the set for good. The Dukes made an attempt to close the gap, but were unable to even the score or take a lead in the set, as MSU earned the 25-19 win.
The third set was almost all Racers, despite an early 4-7 deficit. MSU quickly rebounded from the disadvantage and went on a 6-2 run that gave it the lead for the rest of the match. The Dukes kept the set close until late when the Racers opened up the gap with a 4-0 run to take a 23-17 lead on way to their 25-18 set three victory.
MSU hit a season-best .229 (39k-14e-109ta) on the day and added eight blocks, while holding JMU to a .118 (32k-18e-119ta) attack percentage and four blocks.
The Racers will continue at the Bearcat Invitational Saturday when they are scheduled to face Kent State (9 a.m.) and Cincinnati (6:30 p.m.).
MOREHEAD STATE 3, UTAH 1
EVANSTON, Ill. - Morehead State volleyball registered 83 digs and 12 team blocks Friday night as the Eagles rallied to defeat the Utah Utes 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-22) in the Northwestern University Challenge at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Down a set to open the match, the Eagles tallied 10 team blocks and 65 digs in the final three sets to claim their third straight win and improve to 3-1.
Senior Holly Evans totaled a team best 13 kills and eight blocks while hitting .303 (33 att/3 err). Sophomore Annie Gruenschlaeger collected seven blocks, while junior libero Liz Schuler came up clutch again on the back row with a match high 27 digs. In the first four matches at the position since moving from an offensive role, Schuler has chalked up 6.5 digs per set.
On offense, the Eagles also got 12 kills off a .270 hitting effort from sophomore Ellie Roberson and 10 kills, plus 11 digs, from senior Kaitlin Craven. She also landed three of the Eagles' six aces. Senior setter Kirstie Brangers picked up double-double numbers with 40 assists and 21 digs.
Sarah Collette led the Utes with 14 kills, while Keisha Fisher tied Schuler for match-high dig honors with 27. The Eagles limited Utah freshman standout Morgan Odale, who entered averaging 3.5 kills per set and a better-than-.300 hitting average, to only five kills and a .000 attack performance.
MSU outdueled Utah 57-55 in kill totals, 83-79 in digs, 12-9 in blocks, and .185 to .181 in hitting percentage.
The Eagles had 15 kills in the opening set, but the Utes landed 17 winners while hitting .250 to edge MSU 25-23. MSU came back to hit .308 with just two atack miscues to win 25-21. The Eagles only had 10 kills and nine errors in set three, but they countered with 22 digs, four team blocks, and three aces to claim the set 25-21. In the final set, MSU registered 18 kills.
APPALACHIAN STATE 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 0
BOONE, N.C. - Eastern Kentucky lost 3-0 at Appalachian State on the first day of the Appalachian Invitational. The Mountaineers won by scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-15 and remained unbeaten at 5-0. The Colonels fell to 1-3.
Senior Lauren Snyder led the visitors with eight kills, but made nine errors for a -.032 attack percentage. Freshman Ashley Edmond added seven kills with eight errors. As a team, Eastern had 27 errors and 31 kills for a 0.32 attack percentage.
Freshman setter Robyn Hench played two sets for the Colonels and led the team with 15 assists. Senior Abby O'Connor had a match-high 24 digs. Junior Hannah Groudle led EKU with five total blocks.
Appalachian State was led by Kelly Rhein's 16 kills and .344 attack percentage. She also had 13 digs. Three Mountaineers totaled five blocks. As a team ASU had 11 blocks, compared to six for Eastern Kentucky.
NORTH CAROLINA 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - The Southeast Missouri volleyball team dropped its first match of the JQH Invitational in Springfield, Mo. today to North Carolina.
The Redhawks lost the first set 25-14, but evened the match at 1-1 after winning the second set 25-23. The Tarheels finished off Southeast by winning the next two sets 25-15 and 25-13 to give the Redhawks the loss.
Claire Keaton led the team offensively with nine kills, while Karlee Lursen finished with eight kills and 18 digs.
Kelly Benacka led the team with 27 digs, and Julie Shives added 33 assists.
The Redhawks could not slow down the Tarheels offensive attack, as North Carolina had a team attack percentage of .314. The Redhawks had a team percentage of .097 and were forced into 25 errors.
Southeast plays Ohio and Missouri State to cap off the tournament.
SYRACUSE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 1; TENNESSEE TECH 3, NORTHWESTERN STATE 1
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Freshman outside hitter Natalie Penrod led the way for the Golden Eagles with 21 kills as Tennessee Tech split its first two matches of the Samford Invitational including a 3-0 sweep of Northwestern State Friday.
The Golden Eagles took no prisoners in its second match of the day as they completed their first sweep of the season over Northwestern State by the scores of 25-22, 25-21 and 25-14.
TTU had a fantastic defensive performance against the Demons as it compiled 16 total blocks, and no blocking errors, which led to a -.009 hitting percentage for Northwestern State.
Penrod set the tone for the Golden Eagles as she tallied career-highs in kills and digs with 12. Senior outside hitter Leah Meffert added 10 kills and 12 digs for another double-double on the season, while senior setter Melanie Culp added a game-high 29 assists.
TTU began the day with a 3-1 loss to Syracuse. The Golden Eagles came out firing on all cylinders as they took the first set 25-20. Caught off guard early, Syracuse rebounded to take the next three sets by the scores of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-15.
Meffert, Penrod and senior middle blocker Marie Pedicord kept the Golden Eagle offense balanced as they each chipped in nine kills, while Culp recorded 26 assists.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, BRYANT 1; EASERN ILLINOIS 3, HARVARD
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Eastern Illinois picked up a pair of wins at the Harvard Invitational on Friday. The Panthers defeated Bryan (25-23, 23-25, 26-24, 25-20) and Harvard (25-17, 21-25, 25-13, 25-29).
Senior Erin Hake led all players with a new career high 16-kill performance, while also adding four digs and blocks in the match with Bryant
Fellow senior Kelsey Orr also finished with double-digit kill numbers, as she chipped in 15 put-a-ways and added 14 ups to register her 17th career double-double.
Defensively, junior libero Brittany Wallace finished with 19 digs. The key to the match came at the net as EIU out-blocked the Bulldogs, 11 to 7.5, with senior Jorie Dieter finishing with six roofs, while also nailing seven kills.
Junior setter Chrissie Albers added five blocks, in addition to her 42 assists of the 52 total Panther kills.
The senior foursome of Alex Zwettler, Dieter, Hake and Orr led the Panthers to their second straight win of the season, with Zwettler and Dieter nailing 12 and nine kills, respectively, and both Hake and Orr notching eight apiece.
INDIANA STATE 3, SIU EDWARDSVILLE 2
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - SIUE and Indiana State went five sets Friday and even went a little extra before the Sycamores defeated the Cougars 25-15, 25-19, 24-26, 18-25, 16-14 at the Drury Inn ISU Classic.
SIUE, 1-3, now must come back for two matches Saturday. SIUE faces off against Montana State at 10 a.m. ET and Western Carolina at 4:30 p.m. ET.
SIUE's offense made the turn-around in the third set. Sydney Winslow, who led SIUE with a team-best 14 kills, recorded five of her kills in the third set. The 26-24 win in the third set put pressure back on the Sycamores.
SIUE outside hitter Lexi Cibulka recorded 13 kills.
SIUE continued to get stronger in the fourth set, winning easily 25-18.
The Cougars were picked up by some help from freshman middle hitter Kelsey Augustine, who finished with eight kills. Augustine hit .583 with just 12 attacks.
Indiana State came up big in the fifth set. Tied 14-14, Loni Mackinson served out the match with a service ace and an attack error by SIUE defender Diane Schmidlin.
Morgan Dahl paced Indiana State with 17 kills. Auriel Armstrong and Ana Maira Charun added 14 and 11 kills each.
JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, LONG ISLAND 0
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Senior Kara Slater and sophomore Jen Meyer led a dominant effort up front for the Jacksonville State volleyball team on Friday, when the Gamecocks eased to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-17, 30-28) sweep of Long Island at the Virginia Tech Hokie Classic.
Slater, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., needed just 12 attempts to record her 10 kills in guiding the Gamecocks (3-2) to the win over the Blackbirds (0-4), a .750 attack percentage. Meyer, of Maineville, Ohio, recorded a match-high 11 kills on a .409 attack percentage.
In the balanced three-set match, JSU hit .246 while limiting Long Island to a .106 percentage. The Gamecocks recorded 54 digs and 45 kills, while senior Brooke Schumacher dished out 38 of the team's 43 assists.
Sophomore Alyx Schulte flirted with a double-double for the Gamecocks, picking up nine kills and nine digs. Junior Lauren Harkins led all players with 23 digs. Junior Stephanie Koontz pitched in nine kills from the Gamecocks' front row.
Long Island was led by Hanna Gibeau's seven kills and Chelsey Stanton's 17 digs.
The Gamecocks will conclude the tournament on Saturday with matches against Coastal Carolina and host Virginia Tech. JSU will face the Chanticleers at 9 a.m. CT before wrapping up the day at 6 p.m. against the Hokies.
UT MARTIN 3, CITADEL 0; MERCER 3, UT MARTIN 1
MACON, Ga. - Recap coming soon.
BALL STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
MUNCIE, Ind. - The Tennessee State University volleyball team dropped three sets to a tough Ball State opponent Friday night in the opening match of the Active Ankle Challenge.
Tennessee State (0-2) finished the match with an -0.84 hitting percentage while Ball State (4-0) remained undefeated and hit .304 in the contest.
Senior Santia Sanders had six of TSU's 14 total kills to lead the team. Sophomore Calasia Williams tallied six digs while senior Vicmari Prospero recorded a team best three blocks.
Kylee Baker led Ball State with 12 kills and Alyssa Rio turned in 14 digs for the Cardinals.
Playing in front of a crowd of 1,744, Tennessee State quickly fell behind, 8-2, in the opening set. Following a TSU timeout, Ball State swelled the lead to 20-5 before cruising to the 25-5 win. The Cardinals hit .647 in the set and did not commit any errors in the opening frame.
In the second set, the teams battled through the first several rallies. With the score tied, 7-7, an 8-0 run helped the Cardinals take control. BSU would go on to win the set, 25-13.
Set three saw both teams battle to another, 7-7, deadlock before Ball State created a little distance and went ahead 18-11. The Tigers, however, clawed back when two consecutive service aces from Kamille King sparked a 5-0 run that brought TSU to within two, 18-16. The Cardinals answered with a run of their own to close out the match and claim the 25-19 win.
TSU setter Erika Moss, who has been out due to injury, saw her first action of the season tonight when she played in set three.
The Tigers will conclude the tournament tomorrow with match-ups against Oakland University and Robert Morris.