FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Eastern Kentucky 3, Tennessee State 0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-20)
Austin Peay 3, @Morehead State 1 (22-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-23)
Murray State 3, @Southeast Missouri 1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18)
@Eastern Illinois 3, UT Martin 1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17)
@Jacksonville State 3, Tennessee Tech 2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-18, 30-28, 15-13)

EASTERN KENTUCKY 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
RICHMOND, Ky. - Junior Lauren Snyder recorded a double-double and Eastern Kentucky ran its home court winning streak to six after a 3-0 win over Tennessee State on Friday night at McBrayer Arena.  Snyder finished with a match-best 10 kills and 11 digs.

Set scores were 25-21, 25-18 and 25-20.

The Colonels wore pink socks and hair ribbons tonight in support of breast cancer awareness, and will do so again on Saturday.  For every home court victory in the month of October the EKU volleyball program will donate $100 to the Susan B. Komen Foundation to help find a cure for breast cancer.  The Colonels have six wins so far this month.  The team will be donating in the name of former EKU volleyball head coach Geri Polvino, former Colonel Cindy Thomsen and former EKU athletics employee Kay Patrick.

Autumn Harms added six kills, a .400 attack percentage and a block assist for the Colonels (6-16, 5-7 OVC).  Junior Kate Hendle recorded a match-high 29 assists and three digs.  Junior Abby O'Connor finished with 16 digs.

Naomi Wells and Shaquita Williams led Tennessee State (3-21, 2-10 OVC) with eight kills each.  Yamari Padilla-Collazo posted 16 digs for the Tigers.

The first set was tied 13 times.  After a kill by Lindsey Loescher tied the score at 19-19, a TSU attack error gave Eastern Kentucky the lead for good.  A kill by Amanda Fago brought EKU to set-point and the Colonels finished it off with another Tiger attack error.

After a kill by Snyder gave Eastern a 5-4 lead in the second set, the Colonels never trailed again.  Hannah Groudle's ace made it a six-point game, 18-12.  A kill by Groudle followed by a Tennessee State attack error ended the set, 25-18, and gave the Colonels a 2-0 advantage.

For much of the third set, it looked as if the Tigers would force a fourth set.  Back-to-back aces by Terakka Walker got TSU off to a 5-1 start.  An ace by Williams made it 10-5 in favor of the visitors.  An EKU attack error gave the Tigers a six-point advantage, 13-7.  TSU led again by six, 15-9, after a kill by Williams.

The Colonels didn't fold, and began to whittle away at the lead.  Three straight EKU kills, two by Snyder and one by Harms, cut the deficit to two, 16-14.  That began a 9-2 run that would turn a five point deficit into a two-point lead.  Groudle tied the set for the first time with a kill, 18-18.  Consecutive attack errors by Tennessee State capped the run and put the home squad in front 20-18.

Eastern led the rest of the way.  Two more Tiger attack errors brought EKU to match-point, 24-20.  TSU scored once more, but the ensuing Tiger serve was wide-right, giving the Colonels a 25-20 third set victory.

Eastern Kentucky hit .174 for the match, making 13 errors and finishing with 32 kills in 109 attacks.  Tennessee State had 32 kills as well, but finished with 23 errors and a .076 attack percentage. 

AUSTIN PEAY 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State's volleyball team won the first set against Austin Peay Friday night at Wetherby Gym, but from then on out, the visiting Lady Govs committed only eight attack errors and rallied for a 3-1 win over the Eagles. MSU dipped to 17-8 overall and 9-4 in the Ohio Valley Conference race, while APSU moved ahead to 18-6 and 11-2.

The Eagles won the opening set 25-22 onthe strength of 18 kills. The Lady Govs - the league's top hitting team in terms of percentage - made seven errors in the first set and hit only .104. It was a different tale in the second frame as the Lady Govs landed 17 kills with no errors to win 25-19. The Eagles weren't bad either with 16 kills and a .306 attack effort. APSU took set three 25-14, hitting .310 and taking advantage of some MSU serving errors. AP took a lead in the fourth set, but the Eagles made it interesting as they continued to battle before surrendering a 25-23 decision.

Freshman Ellie Roberson topped the Eagles with 14 kills, while Emma Keough landed 13 spikes. Annie Gruenschlaeger tallied 10 kills and four blocks. Defensively, the Eagles got a match-high 21 digs from senior libero Kristina Schoo. Schoo needs only six more digs to set the MSU career record of 2,083. Lindsey Ruddell and Liz Schuler had 11 each, and Kaitlin Craven dug 10. Kirstie Brangers dished out a match best 48 assists.

Stephanie Champine led all players with 21 kills to go along with 14 digs and a .258 hitting percentage. Kirsten Distler had 11 kills and no errors for a team and match high .407 attack efficiency. On the defensive end, five players reached double digits in digs, led by libero Paige Economos with 16. Kayla Grantham and Sarah Alisaleh had 13 each as Alisaleh completed the double-double with 45 assists.

MSU led the Lady Govs in digs, 74-70, but APSU hit the Eagles with a dose of what tMSU usually dishes out to opponents. Aystin Peay had nine team blocks and had five aces. MSU was only able to land one ace and tallied six team blocks.

MURRAY STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Murray State picked up a four-set win at Southeast Missouri (25-16, 18-25, 25-19, 25-18) on Friday night.

The Racers (7-16, 7-6 OVC) had all the answers to the Redhawks offense in the opening set. The Redhawks (9-15) had cut the Racers lead to two points, 13-11 but the Racers responded with a 10-2 run to pull ahead 23-13. Kills by Ashley Nenninger put the Redhawks away as they hit just .118. The Racers recorded a hitting percentage of .393 with 13 kills and just two attack errors.

The Redhawks managed to even the match up in the second set as they dominated offensively with a .500 attack percentage. 18 of their 25 points came via kills and they committed just three attack errors.

With the two teams tied at 6-6 in the second set the Redhawks slowly pulled away thanks to an early 5-0 run to make it 16-9. Karleigh DeLong (Santiago/Corona, Calif.) put the finishing touches on the set with one of her ten kills in the second stanza.

In the third set the Racers blew open a close set late thanks to a 10-4 run at the end to pull ahead 2-1. The Racers again outhit the Redhawks, .273-.154 as 19 of their point came from kills. Becca Lamb had five of those kills.

The fourth and final set saw the Redhawks jump ahead early and at one point led, 13-10. The Racers battled back and the two teams exchanged points and leads. With the set tied at 16-16 the Racers defense took advantage of the Redhawks mistakes and closed the set and the match with a 9-2 run capped by a Lamb kill.

The Racers recorded an attack percentage of .433 in the final set while the Redhawks hit .211. 14 of the Redhawks 18 points came on kills.

For the match the Redhawks recorded their ninth match this season with an attack percentage over .200 as they finished with a .227 clip. However the Racers finished with an attack percentage of .331 as they committed just 12 attack errors, the Redhawks finished with 21 attack errors.

Ten service errors also didn't help the Redhawks cause.

DeLong finished with a match-high 21 kills, her third match this season she has eclipsed 20 kills. She added seven digs and finished with a .269 attack percentage.

Claire Keaton (Incarnate Word Academy/St. Louis, Mo.) also finished in double-figures in kills as she recorded 14 and led the team with a .367 attack percentage.

Sarah Barth (Central Community/Germantown, Ill.) recorded her third double-double of the season and first since returning back from her broken wrist. She handed out a match-high 47 assists and recorded 13 digs defensively.

Molly Davis (Burris/Muncie, Ind.) led the defense with 16 digs.

Megan Webb (UNLV/Las Vegas, Nev.) tied the match-high with two service aces.

The Racers were led by Nenninger who finished with 16 kills. Lamb added 12 kills and Sara hayden chipped in 10 kills and a match-high .500 attack percentage.

Jade Guo led the Racers with 43 assists and Kayleah Sauer finished with a match-high 26 digs.

JACKSONVILLE STATE 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Facing elimination after dropping the first two sets to Tennessee Tech on Friday night, The Jacksonville State volleyball team stormed back for a thrilling 3-2 (18-25, 23-25, 25-18, 30-28, 15-13) win at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Gamecocks (21-5, 14-0 Ohio Valley Conference) started strong but couldn't close the first two games against a Golden Eagles (9-14, 8-6 OVC) that had won eight of its last 10 matches coming in. JSU won the third and gutted out a 30-28 win in the fourth set to force the deciding fifth game, one it one by just two to keep the fifth-longest winning streak in the nation alive at 15 matches.

TTU hit .344 in the first set and .333 in the second, while holding the Gamecock offense to an .040 percentage and a .167 clip in the first two sets, respectively. The Gamecocks out hit the Golden Eagles the rest of the way and defied defeat yet again. The win keeps them two games ahead of Austin Peay in the race for the OVC's regular-season crown and was their 10th consecutive win when forcing a fifth set.

Senior Brittney Whitten notched her 21st double-double of the year with a match-high 19 kills and 19 digs. The Boonville, Ind., native committed just six errors on 50 attacks and hit .260 to lead five JSU players with double figures in the kills column. Sophomore Allie Schleisman also recorded a double-double in the win, the second of her career. The Suwanee, Ga., native dished out 30 assists and picked up 13 digs on the back row.

Joining Whitten as the team's kills leaders were junior Caitlin Vorbeck, whose 18 kills came on just 29 attacks and a .448 attack percentage. Sophomore Stephanie Koontz and freshman Jen Meyer each pitched in 12 kills on a .364 and .300 attack percentage, respectively, while freshman Alyx Schulte added 11 kills to go along with 11 digs, her eighth career double-double.

Sophomore Lauren Harkins led a Gamecock defense that picked up 84 digs with 26. The Louisville, Ky., native has now recorded 20 or more digs in a match 11 times this season.

TTU's Katie Kenline led a Golden Eagle defense that held firm for the first two sets and wouldn't allow the Gamecocks to put games away until late down the stretch. The reigning OVC Defensive Player of the Year had 22 digs.

Leah Meffert, the 2008 OVC Player of the Year, led the TTU offense with 16 kills and added 12 digs on the defensive end. Marie Peddicord pitched in 16 kills on a .484 attack percentage.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, UT MARTIN 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois defeated UT Martin, 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-17) on Friday night.

The Panthers were led by Kelsey Orrs with 14 kills. She added 14 digs for the double-double. Brittany Wallace paced the defense as she registered 26 digs on the night.

UT Martin's Lauren Montague who ended the night with 15 kills and only one dig short of her fifth double-double this year. Katie Redman also finished the night with a career-best 13 kills on the night.

Redman opened the match for UT Martin with a kill down the line then Ashley Doherty followed with a solo block to help the Skyhawks open up an early 4-1 lead but Eastern Illinois was then able to capitalize on consecutive Skyhawk errors, resulting in an 8-0 run to move the Panthers in front 9-4. A Britany Wilburn and Cassidy Hawkins block cut the Panthers lead to only four, helping the Skyhawks draw the set even again at 14-apiece on a Doherty kill.

After giving the Skyhawks their first lead, Redman put UT Martin back on top, 15-14, with her second kill of the first set. UT Martin then stretched its lead out to four at 19-15, after recording six consecutive points. Eastern Illinois pulled back within one point at 22-21, but was never able to regain the advantage as Wilburn and Hawkins closed out the set 25-21 on a block.

In the first Doherty and Montague both led the way for UT Martin, connecting on three kills each while Wilburn and Redman each added a pair.

Just like in the first, Redman opened the second set with a kill down the line to set the tone for UT Martin. Also like the first set the Skyhawks committed consecutive errors which allowed the Panthers to build a five point lead at 8-3. After regaining their composure the Skyhawks began chipping away at the Eastern Illinois lead, pulling within two at 11-8 on a Hawkins solo block but the Panthers then stretched their lead back to five at 20-15.

Coming out of a timeout, UT Martin went on a 4-0 run to pull back within one after a Wilburn service ace that forced Eastern Illinois to call a timeout of its own. The break didn't phase Wilburn though as she served up a second consecutive ace that tied the set at 20-20. The Panthers moved back in front until Doherty connected on back-to-back kills to give the Skyhawks a 23-22 edge. A Redman kill forced set point for UT Martin but Eastern Illinois was able to rally with consecutive points and force a set point of its own at 25-24, before eventually claiming the second 26-24.

In the second Montague and Redman each tallied five kills each to lead the Skyhawks, while Doherty added two.

In the third Redman again connected on the opening point for UT Martin but Eastern Illinois was able to take a sizeable early advantage at 11-4. A pair of Redman kills pulled the Skyhawks within six at 12-6 and slowed the Panthers momentum. Unfortunately that momentum was slowed only momentarily though as the Panthers went on to push their lead out to double digits before forcing set point at 24-12. The Skyhawks mounted a late run, fighting off three set points but Eastern Illinois eventually closed out the set 25-15.

In the third UT Martin hit only .045 and made six hitting errors. Doherty's three kills led the offensive attack while Montague added a pair.

Eastern Illinois opened the fourth set with a 4-0 run before three consecutive kills from Montague cut the Panther lead to only one. The Panthers were able to answer though and stretch their lead back out to six at 11-5. From that point UT Martin was never able to put together the rally it needed to draw the set even again as Eastern Illinois went on to take the fourth