Nov. 5, 2005

Box Score

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - (Saturday, November 05, 2005) Today was planned to be a special day no matter what the outcome of the Redhawks volleyball team's conference match against Tennessee Tech at Houck Field House. It was a day in which the two Redhawk seniors were to be honored for their contributions to their program. The day turned out better than anyone could imagine as individual accomplishments were set, records were broken and the team reached a milestone they hadn't seen in over two and a half years.

The Redhawks defeated a scrappy Golden Eaglettes team in 3-2 (30-14, 28-30, 27-30, 34-32, 15-9) to even the team's overall record at 14-14. It's the first time the program has had a .500 record since the 2001 team finished with a record of 15-14, a span of 82 matches.

Seniors Jill Miller (Muncie, IN/Muncie Central) and Lauren Scannell (Belleville, IL/Southwestern Illinois College) were each honored before the game and showed the Redhawk crowd why they are considered two of the top players in the program's history.

Miller recorded her first career 20 kill/20 dig match. She recorded 21 kills for her fourth 20 kill match of the season. Her 21 digs matched a season-high as it was her second 20+ dig match of the season. It was also her 13th double-double of the season. She has recorded double-doubles in six of her last seven matches.

Scannell showed why she is one the best defensive players not only on the OVC but in the program's history. Needing only 16 digs to set a new school record for digs in a season, she finished with a match-high 34 digs to set the record at 541 digs. She owns two of the top-three single season dig records. Her 34 digs also ranks third in the program's single match performances. It was her second 30+ dig match of the season and fifth of her career. She has recorded 20+ digs in a match in 12 matches this season and she extended her streak of double-digit dig matches to 32-consecutive matches.

Additionally, Scannell did not commit a single receiving error in the match.

The milestones did not stop with the seniors as the two Redhawk juniors finished with impressive matches.

Jamie Baumstark (Hermann, MO/Hermann) recorded her third triple-double of the season as she finished with a career-high 67 assists, 20 digs and 10 kills. Her 67 assists was her second 60+ assist match of the season. She has recorded 50 or more assists in a match nine times this season. She also added a match-high four service aces.

Jessica Koeper (Jackson, MO/Jackson) tied the match-high with 25 kills. Her 25 kills is a season-high as she recorded her fifth 20+ kill match of the season. Koeper just missed out on her 17th double-double of the season as she finished with nine digs.

Sophomore Brenna Schlader (Columbia, MO/Hickman) finished with 14 kills for her fifth-straight double-digit kill match.

Fellow sophomore Sirma Ozenir (Izmir, Turkey/Izmir Karsiyaka) finished with 10 digs.

Freshman Alyssa Aston (Franklin, TN/Franklin) recorded 10 digs in only two matches for her second double-digit dig match of the season.

As a team the Redhawks finished a season-high 108 digs, the second 100+ dig match of the season.

The Golden Eaglettes (6-20, 2-12 OVC) continued their winless ways on the road. They have lost six-straight matches overall and have yet to win a road match this season.

The Golden Eaglettes were led by Anne Morrow, who finished with a 20/20 game of her own with 25 kills and 25 digs.

In her first season as head coach, Renata Nowacki has the Redhawks playing their best volleyball of the season over the last 10 matches as they have won eight of those matches. Currently the Redhawks have an Ohio Valley Conference record of 10-4, the most OVC wins since the 2003 team won 10 OVC matches. They currently sit in fourth place in the OVC standings just one game behind Jacksonville State for third.

Nowacki also picked up her first win over her former head coach and mentor, John Blair. Blair was Nowacki's and assistant coach Jaime Burns coach at Ole Miss. Blair won the first match-up earlier this season in Cookeville.

The Redhawks are 6-2 at home and have won five-straight against OVC opponents at Houck Field House.

The Redhawks look to continue their home winning streak as they close out the regular season with two more home matches. On Thursday, November 10 they host Jacksonville State at 7:00 p.m. in a key OVC match before closing out the regular season the following day against Samford before heading to Charleston, Illinois for the O'Reilly OVC Volleyball Championships.