UT MARTIN VOLLEYBALL SPLITS A PAIR OF FOUR-SET DECISIONS ON FIRST DAY AT MERCER TOURNAMENT

Friday, September 7

Macon, Ga.

12 P.M.

UT Martin

4-3

Jacksonville

0-5

Jacksonville

UT Martin

UT MARTIN VOLLEYBALL SPLITS A PAIR OF FOUR-SET DECISIONS ON FIRST DAY AT MERCER TOURNAMENT

9/7/2018 8:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

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MACON, Ga. – The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team began the Mercer Bears Classic today with a 3-1 victory (25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 25-16) over Jacksonville before falling in a tight 3-1 result (21-25, 25-21, 19-25, 22-25) in the nightcap matchup against host Mercer.

Hannah Phillips posted 22 kills on the day to lead the Skyhawks, who are now 5-4 overall. Gintare Mackeviciute hit .400 with 19 kills today while Kenzie Hinshaw (58 assists) and Maddi Noble (18 assists) each saw playing time at the setter position.

Defensively, UT Martin was keyed by Brooke Gyori's 35 digs (4.38 per set). Jamie Rys and Justine Walker shared the team lead with four blocks on the day while Rys also collected 17 kills and 20 digs for the Skyhawks.

UT Martin plays its final match in the Mercer Bears Classic on Saturday, Sept. 8 when the Skyhawks take on Alabama A&M at 10 a.m.

Jacksonville
UT Martin combined for a .254 attack percentage as the Skyhawks rolled to a four-set triumph over the Dolphins out of the Atlantic Sun Conference.

Freshman Karen Scanlon made her collegiate debut and immediately made an impact for UT Martin, accounting for the first three Skyhawk kills in the opening set. The score was tight midway through the set until a 10-4 UT Martin run as the Skyhawks led by as many as eight points going away. UT Martin limited Jacksonville to a .000 attack percentage (nine kills, nine errors) in 32 attempts in the first set.

After the Dolphins managed the first four points of the second set, the duo of Scanlon and Mackeviciute each produced a pair of kills to help the Skyhawks close the gap to one point. However, Jacksonville reeled off four unanswered points and UT Martin would not get any closer than two points the rest of the way. Mackeviciute had four kills to lead all Skyhawks in the second stanza.

UT Martin began the third set on a 6-2 run but an extended Dolphin run resulted in a 15-13 Skyhawk deficit. Back-to-back kills by Rys tilted the score back in UT Martin's favor at 16-15 as the Skyhawks would retain the lead from that point forward. Rys, Megan Fair and Phillips each slammed down four kills apiece as UT Martin combined to hit .353 for the set.

The Skyhawk offense remained hot in the fourth and final set as UT Martin dialed up the first seven points of the stanza. Jacksonville would whittle its deficit down to five points in the latter phase of the set but a Scanlon kill ignited a 5-0 surge to make the score 24-14 and essentially put the match away. The Skyhawks hit .367 in the set, led by Walker's perfect offensive performance (five kills, zero errors in five swings).

Mercer
UT Martin sided out at 62 percent for the match but could not overcome a Mercer offense that hit .244 as a team.

The host Bears claimed a 9-2 lead to start the opening set but the Skyhawks would later only trail 18-16 thanks to a 5-0 run that featured a pair of Mackeviciute kills. However, Mercer took the next three points and UT Martin would not get any closer than three points for the duration of the set. Gyori built up 10 digs for the Skyhawks in the second set alone.

UT Martin evened the match at 1-all after seizing control late in the second set. A pair of Rys kills – sandwiched around a kill by Phillips – resulted in the first Skyhawk lead but the 11^th lead of the set took place at 16-all. A Megan Fair kill spurned a 5-1 UT Martin run as Hinshaw helped the Skyhawks close strong with a hand in each of the final five points (a service ace and four assists). Phillips and Hinshaw tallied team-highs of four kills and 12 assists, respectively, in the set.

The third set started out slow for UT Martin but back-to-back kills by Walker and Phillips gave the Skyhawks their first lead of the set at 12-11. The Bears reclaimed a narrow lead before a Gyori service ace evened the score at 16-all. However, Mercer wrapped up the set on a 9-3 run to take a 2-1 advantage in the match. Gyori had five digs to lead a UT Martin defensive unit that scooped up 27 digs in the stanza.

The score was tied 13 times and the lead changed hands on five different occasions in the fourth set alone. Phillips compiled four kills in the first 11 Skyhawk points but ultimately Mercer took a 23-20 lead – the first time in the entire set that either side was able to open up more than a two-point advantage. Back-to-back kills by Rys closed the gap to 23-22 but the Bears scored two straight points to end the match. Phillips' five kills powered UT Martin in the final stanza.