UT Martin Volleyball Earns Hard Fought Win Over Southern Indiana

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – It was a record-setting night for the University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball program as the Skyhawks earned a hard-fought 3-2 triumph (25-15, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13) at Ohio Valley Conference rival Southern Indiana.

Redshirt freshman Dylan Sulcer became just the seventh different player in UT Martin’s NCAA Division I history (since 1992) to record a triple-double. The Brentwood, Tenn. native amassed career-best tallies of 11 kills, 13 assists and 14 digs while also setting a career-high with five blocks.

Skyhawk head coach Jaclynn Wilson joined in on the historic evening as the victory was the 111th of her UT Martin career – passing Chris Rushing (1998-2004) as the program’s all-time NCAA Division I wins leader.

Several Skyhawks had a major hand in tonight’s triumph as Dylan Mott (32 digs including a whopping 15 in the fourth set alone, career-best 13 assists), Kayla Bryant (season-high 15 kills, 12 digs, team-best three service aces) and Katie Cruise (24 assists, career-high 15 digs) each had double-doubles. Kylie Surratt matched Bryant for a team-high with 15 kills while Jenna Vallée added 12 kills. Kristin Phillips and Addy Vaughn chipped in career-highs of seven and six blocks apiece for UT Martin, whose 15 blocks nearly doubled their previous season-high of eight against Grambling on Aug. 30.

UT Martin (3-9, 1-2 OVC) rolled right out of the gate, scoring seven of the first nine points of the match. The Skyhawks eventually opened up a double-digit lead (18-8) on the Screaming Eagles before Sulcer helped close out the stanza with three kills in a span of five points. Surratt had four kills with zero errors in eight swings (.500 attack percentage) to help UT Martin take a 1-0 advantage.

The Skyhawks led 6-3 to start Set 2 but Southern Indiana clawed back to soon take a 13-11 advantage. A Bryant kill and back-to-back blocks from Phillips helped UT Martin eventually pull to within a single point (22-21) but the Screaming Eagles evened the match after reeling off three straight points. Bryant’s five kills paced the Skyhawks in the second stanza.

Just as it had done in the first two sets, UT Martin got off to a fast start by scoring six of the first eight points in the third stanza. Moments later, the Skyhawks unspooled a 5-0 run and never trailed for the remainder of the set as UT Martin took a 2-1 lead in the match. Bryant once again guided the Skyhawks in kills (four) in the set.

Mott made plays all over the court in the fourth set but Southern Indiana (6-9, 1-2 OVC) forced a winner-take-all fifth set. UT Martin found itself in a 4-0 hole and although the Skyhawks battled back to tie the score at 5-5, the Screaming Eagles did not relinquish the lead for the rest of the stanza. Surratt’s five kills and Mott’s 15 digs were the story for UT Martin in the fourth set.

The decisive fifth set featured many runs. The Skyhawks scored the first five points before Southern Indiana scored nine of the next 10 points. UT Martin quickly recovered to the tune of a 6-1 surge before closing out the victory courtesy of a Vallée kill. Vallée was the most valuable Skyhawk in the final set, landing five kills in five swings for a flawless 1.000 hitting percentage.

UT Martin has a weekend bye before finally returning to Skyhawk Fieldhouse for a season-long five-match homestand, starting with an Oct. 11-12 series against OVC foe Morehead State.

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