The UTM volleyball squad failed to establish a rhythm this evening against Southeast Missouri, falling to the visiting Redhawks by a 3-0 margin (22-25, 16-25, 21-25) at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
UTM began the first set in a 9-1 hole but ultimately came back to even the score at 22-all. The Skyhawks were also within one point late in the third set but Southeast Missouri made all the right plays down the stretch in both stanzas.
Kenzie Hinshaw came up just shy of a double-double tonight with 30 assists and nine digs for UTM (5-4). Addison Conley’s nine kills and .353 hitting percentage topped the Skyhawks in both categories while Karen Scanlon accumulated a team-best 13 digs.
Conley helped UTM snap out of its aforementioned slow start in the first set as the junior from London, Ohio piled up four kills in the span of five Skyhawk points. Logan Wallick then took over with two kills and a block assist over a three-point stretch as UTM tied things up at 15-all. The Redhawks answered with three consecutive points but moments later, back-to-back Wallick kills made the score 22-22. However, Southeast Missouri tallied three straight points to take the opening set. The Skyhawk duo of Wallick (six) and Conley (five) combined for 11 of UTM’s 13 kills.
Following a block assist by Hinshaw and Olivia Lucia that gave the Skyhawks their first lead of the match (5-4 in the second set), Southeast Missouri went on a 10-2 run. Conley had three kills out of UTM’s final seven points but the Skyhawks ultimately couldn’t recover from their deficit as the Redhawks ended the set on a 5-1 surge. Hinshaw delivered assists on eight of nine UTM kills in the second stanza.
The Redhawks jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set but the Skyhawks soon recovered as a Lauren O’Neill kill spurred a 5-0 run. Southeast Missouri bounced back to open up a 17-12 advantage but Jessica Reynolds put away three kills in the span of four points to help pull UTM back within a single point at 20-19. Late kills by Scanlon and Lucia kept the margin at one but the Redhawks managed to tally the final three points of the set. O’Neill had a team-high three blocks for the Skyhawks in the third set.
UTM will look to split the season series against Southeast Missouri tomorrow when the two teams clash at 3 p.m. in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.
