On a weekend dedicated to its seniors, the Skyhawk volleyball team split matches against Austin Peay and Tennessee Tech.

The first match was accompanied by a ceremony in honor of UTM’s two seniors, middle Diana Foster and left side Leigh Reiniche.

On the court, the Skyhawks faced a tough opponent in the Lady Govs.

The first game began with a service ace by Reiniche, but Austin Peay quickly jumped out in front. The teams traded points down the stretch, but APSU came out on top, 30-24.

The Skyhawks came out eager to even the match in the second game and stayed within striking distance of APSU. At the first timeout, UTM trailed by only three.

What followed the timeout was a ferocious rally which saw them even the score at 16. -The Skyhawks then exploded to take a 26-22 before APSU took another timeout. After the break, the Skyhawks scored the final four points of the game to win, 30-22.

The third game began with a continuation of UTM’s point streak as they combined good serves with APSU errors to claim an early edge.

After a service ace by Heather Grumke gave the Skyhawks a 13-7 lead, the Lady Govs used a timeout to regroup. They came back to tie the game at 18 before another UTM run put it away, 30-21.

Austin Peay took game four, 30-24, to set up the fifth and final game. In the fifth game, the Skyhawks were unable to get into a good rhythm, while the Lady Govs continued their dominance from the previous game.

APSU jumped out to an early 10-1 lead and refused to give the Skyhawks a chance to rally, winning the game , 15-6, and the match, 3-2.

Senior Leigh Reiniche had 13 kills and 16 digs for UTM. The team out-hit APSU, .098 to .077, led by Reiniche’s .294 percentage.

The team also picked up 13 blocks in the match, led by freshman Kathryn Sprague’s two solos and seven assists. Sophomore Tammy Konitzer set a career-high with 22 digs. Next up for the Skyhawks were the Lady Eagles of Tennessee Tech, who entered the match with an 8-14 record on the season.

In game one, the Skyhawks shook off a slow start and took advantage of several TTU errors to take control of the game. Once they took the lead, the Skyhawks never looked back, stretching their advantage from 14-6 at the first timeout to the final tally of 30-12.

Heather Grumke provided a service ace during the decisive run, while several Skyhawks added kills as part of a balanced attack.

The Skyhawks displayed another impressive effort in a second game that was a definite contrast to the previous game.
Tech opened up an early lead and appeared to be in control. However, the Skyhawks refused to go down without a fight.

After rallying to within three points at 15-12 and forcing a Tech timeout, the Skyhawks kept a stranglehold on the momentum and pulled ahead, 16-15.

The teams traded points down the stretch, but the Skyhawks got service aces from senior Leigh Reiniche and sophomore Tammy Konitzer to seal a 30-26 win.

After their loss in game two, TTU committed numerous errors in the third game and was never able to threaten the Skyhawks’ lead.

UTM claimed game three, 30-22, to sweep the match. UTM out-hit TTU .261 to .050 and picked up 44 kills to the Lady Eagles’ 36. Freshman Jamie Hollins led the Skyhawks with 11 kills and junior Heather Grumke added 24 assists.

The Skyhawks totaled 37 assists while the Lady Eagles finished the game with 34.

The win improved UTM?s record to 10-13 overall and pushed them above the .500 mark in OVC play at 7-6.

UTM plays next at Murray State on November 2 before returning to the fieldhouse for their home finale on November 9 against Belmont.