SKYHAWK VOLLEYBALL PUTS UP A FIGHT BUT SEASON COMES TO AN END WITH 3-0 SETBACK TO MURRAY STATE IN OVC QUARTERFINALS

Thursday, November 15

Clarksville, Tenn.

1:30 P.M.

UT Martin

14-17

No. 2 Murray State

20-9

Team	1	2	3	Final F
UT Martin	20	21	19	0
Murray State	25	25	25	3

SKYHAWK VOLLEYBALL PUTS UP A FIGHT BUT SEASON COMES TO AN END WITH 3-0 SETBACK TO MURRAY STATE IN OVC QUARTERFINALS

11/15/2018 4:04:00 PM | Volleyball

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CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – The 7^th seeded University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team battled throughout the Ohio Valley Conference Championship tournament quarterfinal match but No. 2 seed Murray State claimed a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) this afternoon at the Winfield Dunn Center.

The Skyhawks, who were making their first appearance in the annual postseason event since 2012, wrap up the 2018 season with a 14-17 overall record. The 14 victories under fourth-year head coach Jaclynn Wilson were the most for the program since the 2011 campaign.

Playing the final match of their collegiate careers, the senior duo of Megan Fair and Brooke Gyori led UT Martin today. Fair piled up a team-high 15 kills while chipping in four blocks and three digs while Gyori scooped up a match-high 22 digs and added six assists.

Gintare Mackeviciute contributed nine kills (against just one error) on a .500 hitting percentage while adding a match-high six blocks. Kenzie Hinshaw was responsible for 35 assists and Hannah Phillips added 11 digs for the Skyhawks.

"It was a tough match," Wilson said. "It was pretty evident at the start that it was our girls' first time being here at the tournament. We played tight but once we started playing together and playing our game, we were pretty competitive. Unfortunately, we were up against a good team like Murray State – they took the momentum in the second set and it was tough to rebound from that. We are so thankful to be in the tournament this year – I think it was a huge step in the right direction for our program."

Murray State (20-9) began the opening set on a 7-1 run before a pair of kills by Fair temporarily halted the Racers. UT Martin nabbed four of five points during one stretch – receiving kills from Mackeviciute, Jamie Rys, Fair and Phillips – to get within four points at 13-9. Murray State was able to go back ahead by as many as eight points (22-14) but the Skyhawks used a 6-2 run to once again trim their deficit to four points (24-20). However, Murray State came back to take the first set. Fair's five kills guided UT Martin in the first stanza.

In a reversal of the first set, it was the Skyhawks who came out blazing in the second set. UT Martin unreeled a 9-1 run as part of a 13-5 start that forced the Racers to call a timeout. Mackeviciute posted three kills and a solo block during the run. The Skyhawks led by an 18-10 margin before Murray State mounted a comeback, scoring 12 of the next 13 points to go on top 22-19. Kills by Justine Walker and Fair helped UT Martin close within two points but the Racers managed to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Fair and Gyori led the Skyhawks with five kills and nine digs, respectively, in the second set.

The third set was tight throughout, as four of UT Martin's first six points came via Fair kills. The Skyhawks trailed 8-7 before the Racers went on a 5-1 run to create some separation. UT Martin continued to claw back, going on a 5-1 run of its own behind two kills and two assisted blocks by Mackeviciute. Moments later, back-to-back Walker kills whittled the Skyhawk deficit to 19-17 but Murray State would ultimately close the match with five of the final six points. Fair provided five more kills while Hinshaw accounted for 13 assists in the third set.

Gyori concludes her two-year UT Martin career with a 4.94 digs per set average, which is the third-highest mark in program history. Her OVC-best 656 digs this season rank second in school history. Fair amassed 582 kills and 544 digs in her two-year Skyhawk career, slamming down a team-best 304 kills in 2018. Her career average of 2.59 kills per set ranks just outside the top-10 in UT Martin history.