COLUMBIA, Mo. – The last nonconference match on the University of Tennessee at Martin’s 2024 volleyball schedule took place today as the Skyhawks showed fight but fell by a 3-1 margin (17-25, 27-25, 25-19, 18-25) to defending Summit League regular season champion Kansas City at the Mizzou Invitational.
Kayla Bryant and Kristin Phillips shared the team lead with 11 kills this evening as Phillips additionally tacked on a team-best three blocks. Addy Vaughn hit .583 with seven kills (zero errors in 12 swings) while Kylie Surratt nearly reached double-digit in the kills column with nine. Katie Cruise handed out 37 of UT Martin’s 44 assists while the tandem of Dylan Mott (team-best 15 digs) and Dylan Sulcer (career-high 11 digs) set the tone for the Skyhawks defensively.
Back-to-back kills from Vaughn and Bryant gave UT Martin (2-7) its first lead of the match at 9-8 but the Roos scored six unanswered points and never relinquished the advantage from there. The Skyhawks did pull within one point at 15-14 but Kansas City scored 10 of the final 13 points of the set. Bryant had four kills while Vaughn earned three kills on three attacks.
The Roos (2-6) used a 6-1 run midway through the second stanza to gain the upper hand in the second stanza. Phillips slammed down three kills in the span of four UT Martin points to pull the Skyhawks within striking distance but Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the match. Phillips’ four kills led the way for UT Martin in the second set.
The Skyhawks sided out at a phenomenal 84 percent (16-of-19) and hit .379 in a convincing victory during the third set. Phillips had a hand in four consecutive points (two kills, one solo block, one block assist) to aid UT Martin to an 8-3 advantage as the Skyhawks led by as many as seven points down the stretch. Bryant and Surratt both had four kills on a .600 attack percentage while Cruise handed out 11 assists in the third set alone.
In the fourth set, the Roos were responsible for 10 of the first 15 points but UT Martin kept plugging away and eventually pulled within three points at 20-17. However, Kansas City concluded the match with five of the final six points to deny the Skyhawks an opportunity at a fifth set. Phillips and Cruise topped UT Martin with four kills and 10 assists, respectively, in Set 4.
The Skyhawks have a bye weekend before opening Ohio Valley Conference play on Sept. 27-28 at Little Rock.
