Skyhawks Battle But Fall In SIUE Series Finale

Saturday, October 18

Martin, Tenn.

11 a.m.

UT Martin

2-17,1-7OVC

SIUE

11-9,6-3OVC

SIUE

UT Martin

Skyhawks Battle But Fall In SIUE Series Finale

10/18/2025 3:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Stats PDF

MARTIN, Tenn. – Despite another strong performance by the University of Tennessee at Martin defense, the Skyhawks dropped a four-set decision to SIUE (23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 20-25) this afternoon.

After a 15-block performance in the series opener against the Cougars last night, UT Martin rejected another 12 attacks at the net today. A trio of Skyhawks each had at least five blocks, led by a career-high six swats from Kylie Surratt as part of her sixth double-double of the season (team-high 11 kills, 11 digs). Kristin Phillips and Carly Mueller also produced five blocks apiece while Abby Freund's team-best 16 digs capped off a solid defensive effort for UT Martin.

Ava Peters (34 assists, five digs, career-high four service aces, three kills, two blocks) stuffed the statsheet for the Skyhawks while Kayla Bryant (10 kills, 10 digs) managed her fifth double-double of the fall.

UT Martin led by as many as seven points (17-10) in the opening set before the Cougars mounted a ferocious comeback. SIUE scored four of the first five points but a pair of Peters service aces flipped the score back in favor of the Skyhawks. A 5-0 UT Martin spurt was capped off with a Surratt kill and gave the Skyhawks a seven-point advantage. After the Cougars began chipping away, UT Martin still led by a 23-22 margin via a Mueller kill. SIUE then scored the final three points of the set to take an early 1-0 lead in the match. Surratt posted team-highs of five kills and four digs in the opening set.

A pair of Phillips kills allowed the Skyhawks to take a 4-1 lead out of the gate in the second stanza. The Cougars recovered to take a 12-11 advantage before UT Martin accounted for six of the next eight points, ignited by a pair of Bryant kills. Moments later, three consecutive Skyhawk blocks provided UT Martin with a 24-18 advantage on the way to evening the match at 1-all. Bryant (team-highs of four kills and five digs), Peters (12 assists) and Mueller (three blocks) came up big in the second set for the Skyhawks.

UT Martin led 5-2 to begin the third set as the Skyhawks' first two points of the stanza came off Surratt kills. SIUE accounted for 13 of the next 17 points before kills from Surratt and Phillips got UT Martin back on track. The Skyhawks soon bounced back for five unanswered points – all on Cougar attack errors – trimming their deficit down to 19-17 in the process. However, SIUE was responsible for six of the final eight points in the stanza. Bryant and Surratt each had three kills apiece while Freund generated five digs in the third set.

Once again, UT Martin got off to a fast start as the Skyhawks led 5-1 to open the fourth set. The Cougars took their first lead in the set at 8-7 but three straight blocks soon thereafter resulted in a 13-11 UT Martin advantage. The Skyhawks kept that lead until SIUE tallied four straight points to go on top by a 19-16 margin. The UT Martin freshman trio of Mueller, Chyler Martin and Peters each landed kills in the waning stages of the set but it ultimately wasn't enough. Surratt had four blocks in the final set for the Skyhawks.

UT Martin goes on the road for its next four outings, starting with a two-match series at in-state Ohio Valley Conference rival Tennessee Tech on Thursday, Oct. 23 through Friday, Oct. 24.