Friday, October 11
Martin, Tenn.
6 p.m.
UT Martin
vs
SIUE
Photo by: UT Martin University Relations
SKYHAWK VOLLEYBALL OPENS FIVE-MATCH HOMESTAND THIS WEEKEND AGAINST OVC FOES SIUE, EIU
10/9/2019 3:15:00 PM | Volleyball
MARTIN, Tenn. – A season-long five-match homestand for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball squad begins this weekend when the Skyhawks play host to a pair of Ohio Valley Conference rivals. UT Martin will clash against SIUE on Friday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. before turning around to face Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m.
The Skyhawks have played 15 of their 18 matches at road or neutral sites so far this season but are facing a lengthy home stretch where nine of their next 11 matches will be played in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
UT Martin enters with a 5-13 overall record and a 1-3 mark in OVC play. Last weekend against two perennial OVC frontrunners, the Skyhawk defense was led by freshman libero Lucy Kaufman. She began her week with a then-career-high of 14 digs in only three sets at Murray State on Friday. Less than 24 hours later at Austin Peay, the Eureka, Mo. native established a new career-best tally with 18 digs in just four sets.
Also last weekend, Gintare Mackeviciute paced UT Martin offensively. The senior middle blocker out of Jonava, Lithuania slammed down 20 kills on a sizzling .486 attack percentage. That included a season-high 15-kill, .500 hitting effort (only three errors in 24 swings) at Austin Peay on Saturday.
Mackeviciute leads the Skyhawks in total kills (144) and attack percentage (.262), ranking eighth in the OVC in the latter category. Jessica Reynolds' 2.25 kills per set leads UT Martin while Kenzie Hinshaw hands out 8.19 assists per set, which is the seventh-best mark in the conference.
Defensively, Justine Walker tops the OVC in blocks (1.27 per set), sending back 85 attempts at the net. Despite recently being sidelined with an injury, Jamie Rys leads the Skyhawks and ranks 10th in the OVC with 3.48 digs per set.
SIUE (7-9, 2-2 OVC) snapped an eight-match losing streak with back-to-back league wins last week, sweeping Eastern Illinois at home on Wednesday before outlasting Tennessee State in five sets on the road Saturday. The Cougars received strong play out of Jordyn Klein, who racked up 55 combined digs – including a school record 31 digs in the three-set outing against Eastern Illinois. Freshman Savannah Christian paced the SIUE offense, hitting .319 for the week while chipping in a career-best 14 kills against Tennessee State.
Eastern Illinois (1-15, 0-4 OVC) has dropped four straight matches heading into the weekend, having not won a set in OVC matchups against Murray State (Sept. 27), Austin Peay (Sept. 28), SIUE (Oct. 2) and Belmont (Oct. 5). Hannah Sieg led the Panther defense with eight blocks (1.33 per set) last week while Bailey Chandler handed out 41 assists (6.83 per set) to guide Eastern Illinois offensively.
Both matches this weekend will be streamed live on ESPN+ and will feature live stats. Those links can be found at the top of the webpage.
The Skyhawks have played 15 of their 18 matches at road or neutral sites so far this season but are facing a lengthy home stretch where nine of their next 11 matches will be played in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
UT Martin enters with a 5-13 overall record and a 1-3 mark in OVC play. Last weekend against two perennial OVC frontrunners, the Skyhawk defense was led by freshman libero Lucy Kaufman. She began her week with a then-career-high of 14 digs in only three sets at Murray State on Friday. Less than 24 hours later at Austin Peay, the Eureka, Mo. native established a new career-best tally with 18 digs in just four sets.
Also last weekend, Gintare Mackeviciute paced UT Martin offensively. The senior middle blocker out of Jonava, Lithuania slammed down 20 kills on a sizzling .486 attack percentage. That included a season-high 15-kill, .500 hitting effort (only three errors in 24 swings) at Austin Peay on Saturday.
Mackeviciute leads the Skyhawks in total kills (144) and attack percentage (.262), ranking eighth in the OVC in the latter category. Jessica Reynolds' 2.25 kills per set leads UT Martin while Kenzie Hinshaw hands out 8.19 assists per set, which is the seventh-best mark in the conference.
Defensively, Justine Walker tops the OVC in blocks (1.27 per set), sending back 85 attempts at the net. Despite recently being sidelined with an injury, Jamie Rys leads the Skyhawks and ranks 10th in the OVC with 3.48 digs per set.
SIUE (7-9, 2-2 OVC) snapped an eight-match losing streak with back-to-back league wins last week, sweeping Eastern Illinois at home on Wednesday before outlasting Tennessee State in five sets on the road Saturday. The Cougars received strong play out of Jordyn Klein, who racked up 55 combined digs – including a school record 31 digs in the three-set outing against Eastern Illinois. Freshman Savannah Christian paced the SIUE offense, hitting .319 for the week while chipping in a career-best 14 kills against Tennessee State.
Eastern Illinois (1-15, 0-4 OVC) has dropped four straight matches heading into the weekend, having not won a set in OVC matchups against Murray State (Sept. 27), Austin Peay (Sept. 28), SIUE (Oct. 2) and Belmont (Oct. 5). Hannah Sieg led the Panther defense with eight blocks (1.33 per set) last week while Bailey Chandler handed out 41 assists (6.83 per set) to guide Eastern Illinois offensively.
Both matches this weekend will be streamed live on ESPN+ and will feature live stats. Those links can be found at the top of the webpage.
Players Mentioned
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OH/DS
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MB
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OPP/OH
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MB/OPP
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