Defensive Effort Leads to 3-0 Road Win for Redhawks Molly Davis finishes with a match-best 23 digs to extend her streak to 32 matches MARTIN, Tenn. (Tuesday, September 22, 2009) – The Redhawks volleyball team put forth their best defensive effort of the season as they concluded their three-match Ohio Valley Conference road trip with a win over the University of Tennessee at Martin, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-22) on Tuesday evening at Skyhawk Arena. The win gave the Redhawks a 2-1 record to start the conference portion of their schedule. The Redhawks (5-7, 2-1 OVC) held the Skyhawks (6-6, 1-2 OVC) to a .060 attack percentage, the lowest percentage by a Redhawks opponent this season. Offensively the Skyhawks recorded just 37 kills while committing 27 attack errors, four service errors, five receiving errors, eight blocking errors and three ball handling errors. Those errors accounted for 47 points for the Redhawks. In the opening frame the Redhawks jumped out to a 7-1 lead. The Skyhawks cut the lead to three, 7-4 but the Redhawks responded with a 10-1 run that put the Skyhawks away. The Redhawks led by as much as ten points, 20-10. Consecutive kills by senior Amanda Rickhoff (Southwestern Illinois College/Bartelso, Ill.) sealed the win. The Skyhawks finished with just ten kills and committed nine attack errors for a .016 attack percentage. The second set was more of the same as the Redhawks continued to pour it on offensively and defensively. After Skyhawks tied the set at 2-2, the Redhawks went on a 6-0 run to put some distance between the two teams. The Skyhawks managed to make it close and closed within two, 12-10 with a 5-0 run. A 7-2 run by the Redhawks was the decisive run and gave the Redhawks a 2-0 lead. The Skyhawks grabbed their first lead of the entire match at the onset of the third set as they jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead. The Redhawks grabbed a 7-5 the lead thanks to a 3-0 run. The Skyhawks rallied again to grab another one-point lead, 12-11 and led by as much as three, 15-12. A 8-2 run by the Redhawks gave them the lead 20-17. One last Skyhawks rally cut it to one, 23-22 but the Redhawks closed the set and the match with two-straight point for the win. The win by the Redhawks over their OVC rivals was their 54th victory in 66 matches in the all-time series. The Redhawks have won eight of the last ten matches against the Skyhawks. Junior Kelly Benacka (Jacobs/Algonquin, Ill.) continued to progress and lead as the Redhawks new starting setter. She recorded her third-straight double-double with a match-best 29 assists and 12 digs. Rickhoff led the offense with a season-high 13 kills and a .316 attack percentage. She had just one attack error on a team-high 38 swings. She added 13 digs defensively for her first double-double of the season. Karleigh DeLong (Santiago/Corona, Calif.) added seven kills and a season-high 22 digs. Senior Molly Davis (Burris/Muncie, Ind.) continued her outstanding defensive play with a match-best 23 digs. She extended her double-digit dig match streak to 32-straight matches. It was also her sixth-straight match in which she has finished with 20+ digs. She was perfect defensively with no receiving errors. As a team the Redhawks committed just one receiving error. The Skyhawks were led by sophomore Ashley Doherty with a match-best 17 kills. Setter Jenna Miller recorded a double-double with 27 assists and 15 digs. Kasey Elswick led the team with 19 digs. The Redhawks host Austin Peay in their home opener on Friday, September 25. First serve is set for 7:00 p.m.
