For the second consecutive day, the UTM volleyball team struggled to solve the Southeast Missouri Redhawks as the Skyhawks fell 3-0 (21-25, 8-25, 19-25) to the defending Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) champions at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
Logan Wallick produced a team-best 10 kills for UTM (5-5) while Kenzie Hinshaw collected 27 assists and three service aces. Karen Scanlon (10) and Baillie Kearns (10) combined for exactly half of the Skyhawks’ 40 digs but Southeast Missouri hit .374 with only five errors during the match.
A service ace by Hinshaw opened the day but the Redhawks soon took a 5-2 advantage. Following a 4-0 Southeast Missouri run, Wallick generated three kills in the span of four points to tilt the score in favor of the Skyhawks at 11-10. The Redhawks came right back with five unanswered points to go back ahead. Scanlon came away with three kills in a four-point stretch for UTM as the Skyhawks pulled within a single point (21-10) but Southeast Missouri recorded four of the final five points of the stanza. Hinshaw and Scanlon paced UTM with 13 assists and seven digs, respectively.
Lauren O’Neill, Wallick and Addison Conley all had early kills for the Skyhawks in the second set but the Redhawks were able to jump out to a 12-3 lead. UTM reeled off three straight points midway through the set as a pair of Southeast Missouri errors were sandwiched around a Jessica Reynolds kill, making the score 14-7. However, the Redhawks rounded out the set with 11 of the last dozen points. Kearns accounted for a team-high five digs but the Skyhawk offense hit -.029 in 35 swings during the set.
A pair of kills out of Conley helped UTM start the third set with a 6-6 tie score. Wallick followed with a trio of kills in a five-point stretch but Southeast Missouri soon went on a 7-2 surge, taking a 20-14 lead in the process. Reynolds did her best to extend the match for the Skyhawks as the junior from Chandler, Arizona, slammed down three kills out of UT Martin’s final seven points. Unfortunately, the Skyhawk deficit proved to be too large to overcome. Wallick (five kills) and Kayla Carrell (five digs) topped UTM in the third stanza.
The Skyhawks now head on the road for their next four contests, starting with a two-day trip to SIUE on Sunday, March 14 and Monday, March 15.
