By Ryne Rickman, UT Martin Sports Information Director
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball squad avenged its previous night’s setback against Belmont with a clean 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-20, 25-13) this afternoon over the Bruins at the Curb Event Center.
It was the fourth win in the last five tries for the Skyhawks, who improve to 5-10 overall with a 1-1 Ohio Valley Conference record.
Olivia Saunders was incredibly efficient for UT Martin today, dialing up a match-high 12 kills with no errors in 17 swings for a remarkable .706 hitting percentage. Addy Vaughn (13 assists) and Haeleigh Paulino (11 assists) helped engineer at Skyhawk offense that hit .221 (only 15 errors in 95 attempts).
On the defensive side, Baillie Kearns managed a match-high 11 digs while Zoe Merriweather rejected a career-best nine blocks (three solo) as UT Martin tied a season-high with 12 blocks at the net.
Belmont took a 4-1 lead to start the first set before a pair of Saunders kills helped the Skyhawks evened the set at 8-all. The Bruins went back ahead by a slim margin (14-12) before Saunders lifted UT Martin. The redshirt junior middle blocker from Ontario, Canada struck for three straight kills to ignite a 7-1 Skyhawk run, which also featured a pair of block assists from Merriweather. Belmont unreeled five straight point to temporarily reclaim the lead but UT Martin scored six of the final seven points, capped off by an Addison Conley kill. Saunders delivered five kills in five swings while Merriweather had four blocks in the opening stanza.
The trio of Merriweather (solo block), Logan Wallick (kill) and Paulino (service ace) aided the Skyhawks towards a 3-0 lead to begin the second stanza. The second straight kill from Karen Scanlon doubled up the score at 8-4 but the Bruins battled back to tie things up at 13-all. Two more ties followed before UT Martin accounted for eight of the last nine points of the set, including three kills and two block assists from Saunders. Pacing the Skyhawks in the middle stanza was Saunders (team-highs of four kills, .500 hitting percentage, three blocks).
UT Martin went on a torrid run during the early stages of the third stanza, overcoming a 4-2 deficit thanks to an 8-0 surge. Saunders (three straight kills) and Scanlon (one kill, two service aces) played big roles during that run that led to a 10-4 Skyhawk lead. It was soon Merriweather’s turn to shine as the redshirt freshman out of Hernando, Miss. had a hand in four points (two kills, two block assists) as part of a 6-0 UT Martin run. That surge led to a double-digit Skyhawk lead (17-7) as they cruised from there to successfully complete the sweep. UT Martin hit .292 (12 kills, five miscues) in 24 attempts in the final set.
The Skyhawks close out a three-game road swing to begin OVC play on Wednesday, Sept. 29 when they visit Southeast Missouri at 6 p.m.
Graphic Courtesy of UT Martin Sports Information