Cougars Take UT Martin to Five Sets

UT Martin held off SIUE's charge Saturday in a five-set volleyball win at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

The Skyhawks won the first two sets, dropped the next two sets, and then held on in the final set. UT Martin improved to 10-16 overall and 6-6 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a 27-25, 25-18, 22-25, 21-25, 15-13 win.

"There's a lot of fight in this team," said SIUE Head Coach Leah Johnson. "I was pleased to see us go on the road and be resilient."

SIUE's defense turned in another stellar performance with 11 blocks, including six from Kelsey Augustine and four from Kristen Torre. The Cougars, 8-15 overall and 4-8 in the OVC, hit .199 for the match behind 12 kills from Emma Anderson and 11 from Augustine.

"We decided our blocking game could score more points," said Johnson. The Cougars, noted Johnson, now need to continue to work to find more ways to terminate a point before that.

Emily Keaton and Amanda Crask paced the Skyhawks with 15 kills each. Allie Whimpey added 13 for UTM. The Skyhawks were hit or miss for the match with 74 kills and 30 errors on 187 attacks.

Johnson said the match could have gone either way.

"We didn't make as many errors which was fantastic," she said. The Cougars and the Skyhawks were tied 20 times and exchanged leads nine times during the match.

SIUE's road trip continues next weekend at Tennessee Tech and Jacksonville State.