Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Eastern Kentucky's volleyball team completed a two-match Ohio Valley Conference road trip with a 3-1 victory at Tennessee State University.  The Colonels began the trip with a win at Belmont on Friday.
 
EKU is now 12-6 overall and 2-0 in OVC play after winning by scores of 24-26, 25-17, 28-26 and 25-22.
 
Freshman Celina Sanks led Eastern with 13 kills.  Rachel Vick and Alexis Plagens had 11 kills each.  Vick also had four blocks and three aces.  Dena Ott had a match-best 18 digs while Abbey Cvelbar posted a second straight double-double, finishing with 41 assists and 12 digs.
 
After taking a 1-0 lead in the match, the Tigers jumped out to a 7-3 lead in the second set before the Colonels got going.  A 12-4 run turned a four-point deficit into a four-point lead, 15-11.  Vick had a pair of kills during the run, but six points were scored off TSU attack errors.  Eastern Kentucky cruised on to a 25-17 win to tie the match.
 
The score in the key third set was tied 14 times and the lead changed hands seven times.  Tennessee State took set-point, 24-23, on a kill by Taylor Swayzer.  However, a kill by Sanks tied the score and a TSU error gave the visitors set-point.  Swayzer tied it 25-25 with a kill and gave the Tigers set-point again with an ace.  EKU rolled off three straight, including back-to-back kills by Sanks, to take the set 28-26 and grab a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Three unanswered points early in the fourth set put Eastern on top 9-6 and gave the Colonels a lead they would never relinquish.  An 8-0 EKU run turned a one-point lead into a 20-12 advantage.  After a kill by Vick gave her team match-point, 24-18, Tennessee State scored four straight on four consecutive attack errors to close the gap to two points.  A Tiger error after a timeout ended the set and the match.
 
Swayzer led all players with 20 kills for Tennessee State (6-10, 1-1 OVC).  Naomi Wells had 16 kills.  Swayzer and Wells combined for 23 attack errors.
 
The Tigers had three more kills (54-51) and two more blocks than EKU, but the Colonels had seven fewer errors, four more aces (7-3) and three fewer service errors.
 
The Colonels meet rival Morehead State University for the first time this season on Wednesday in Morehead.  The match is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.  The Eagles are still looking for their first win of the season (0-15, 0-2 OVC).