The UTM volleyball team opened its 2004 campaign with a 2-1 won-loss record in the Over-The-Mountain Tournament hosted this past weekend by Gardner Webb at the Paul Porter Arena in Boiling Springs, N.C.

Senior Leigh Reiniche and freshman Kirsten Thompson were named to the Over-The-Mountain All-Tournament team.

Both UTM and Lipscomb University finished the tournament with 2-1 records.

“We are real pleased with our first weekend of playing,” said Chris Rushing, UTM’s head volleyball coach.

“Every player played great at times and I feel we are back on track towards building to OVC championship status. We are a young team again, yet we are playing like we’ve been together for a few years.”

The Skyhawks dropped their tournament opener 3-1 to Lipscomb University of Nashville.

The Skyhawks dropped the opening game 30-28, but won the second game 30-25. Lipscomb claimed the match with a 30-22 win in the third game and a 37-35 victory in the fourth game.

The Skyhawks led the third game 19-15, but Lipscomb used a 15-3 run to grab the momentum.

Redshirt freshman Jamie Hollins led the Skyhawks with a double-double. She had 12 kills and 12 digs in her Tennessee-Martin debut. She also had a .226 hitting percentage.

The Skyhawks recovered from the opening loss by blanking host Gardner-Webb, 3-0, Saturday morning.

The Skyhawks won the first game 30-19 and the second game 31-29.

They claimed the match with a 30-20 win in game three. Reiniche led the way for UT Martin with 13 kills and 18 digs.

Hollins added 13 kills, while Kirsten Thompson collected 10 kills and eight total blocks.

Reiniche led the Skyhawks to a four-game win over North Carolina-Greensboro with 22 kills and 13 digs.

Reiniche moves up to No. 8 on the career ladder list for kills with 748.

She can move up to No. 7 and tie Lindsey Stock (926) with 178 more kills this season.

The Skyhawks won the first game 30-22 and the second game 30-15.

UNC-Greensboro won the third game 30-26, but the Skyhawks won the match with a 30-22 decision in the fourth game.

As a team the Skyhawks hit .410 in the fourth game and piled up 63 kills in the match.

The Skyhawks are 2-1 on the season and will travel to Knoxville this weekend to play in the Domino’s Lady Vols Classic.

The Skyhawks will play Purdue Friday night and Tennessee and Wake Forest Saturday afternoon.