RICHMOND, Ky. - With two Colonel players recording double-figure kills, the Eastern Kentucky volleyball team defeated Tennessee State 3-0 (30-22, 30-28, 30-23) tonight in McBrayer Arena. The Colonels improve to 11-12, 4-5 in the Ohio Valley while the Tigers drop to 14-11, 6-3 in the league.

Senior Jessica Sabath led Eastern Kentucky with a match-high 16 kills and added a team second-best 16 digs. Junior Brittany Nobilio paced the squad with 18 digs while senior Kelly Jennings added 40 assists. Sophomore Bridget Mustard ended the night with five block assists and two block solos.

Eastern Kentucky ended the night with a .220 hitting percentage off 48 kills.

Following an 11-11 tie in game one, the Colonels went ahead on a block from senior Denise Grundhoefer and Mustard and maintained an advantage for the duration of the contest. A service ace from Mustard gave Eastern Kentucky a seven-point advantage (23-14) and the Colonels earned the 30-22 victory with a Mustard kill.

Eastern Kentucky held an advantage throughout a majority of the second game, doubling the Tigers' point production with an 18-9 lead off a Sabath kill. Tennessee State stayed in the contest though, knotting the score at 26 after a 6-1 scoring run. The teams stayed even, with two more tie scores, before the Colonels took game two with a Grundhoefer kill and a Tiger attack error.

Game three stayed close as neither team was able to build more than a three-point advantage until the Colonels took a 16-11 lead after a trio of attack errors from Tennessee State. The Tigers went ahead by one point (22-21) with consecutive kills from Colleen Dornan but Eastern scored nine of the final 10 points of the contest to earn the victory.

Meesha Jackson led the Tigers with 13 kills while two Tiger players, Erick Godbolt and Katie Lippi, recorded 18 digs.

The Colonels are back in action tomorrow, hosting Austin Peay at 2 p.m.