Panthers fall to UT Martin Sky Hawks in three-set game: Volleyball News
The University of Tennessee Martin volleyball team benefitted from the home advantage and posted a straight set win over Eastern Illinois Panthers in Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday, October 7.
The packed Skyhawk Fieldhouse sports arena provided grounds for the exciting volleyball scrimmage as the hosts posted a 3-0 (26-24, 25-14, 25-16) victory over the visitors and improved to 5-2 in the OVC standings with their third consecutive victory on home
soil. Besides, this is the third time in 2011 season that Skyhawks held off an OVC opponent in three straight sets.
Senior Ashley Doherty of the home squad created a good buzz on centre court and registered 11 kills with a hitting percentage of .556, which is her second highest mark in the running season. Senior setter Jenna Miller helped the Skyhawks stay ahead in the
game. She put in great effort and got and added 32 assists.
The Panters gave out the first point of the game on service error and it was followed by attack errors. UT Martin got the perfect start in the game and hit confidently. However, Panthers quickly reacted and added a 2-0 run to create the first tie of scores
at 2-all. Wallace Brittany hit the ball from different angles and put Panthers in the lead at 4-2. Meanwhile, UTM scored solid points and chased the score. The opening set progressed in the same fashion and both teams jumped on every little opportunity to
score. The spectators thoroughly enjoyed the cracking action and long rallies. Finally, UTM managed to get away with a first set and recorded 26-24 win.
After winning the opening set, Skyhawks hit more aggressively and picked up the lead over Panthers in early few minutes. They controlled the net action and converted 6-2 lead into 12-2. The visiting team spent some time on the court and tried to grasp the
game plan of their opponents. They managed to steal a few points but UTM refused to lose. They remained remarkably consistent and kept the lead in their hand. Second set win further helped UTM to put more pressure on the Panthers.
The rhythm and tone was set for hosts to put an end to the tussle in third set. They maintained their perfect flow in the third set and bagged a victory after winning the third straight set.
The winning head coach, Darrin McClure, was quite satisfied with combined effort of his players. He expressed his views in the following manner: “I thought tonight was a total team effort.” He further added: “Our goal was to keep two of their three outsides
to under .150 hitting percentages. In fact we held two of them to negative numbers.”
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