The Skyhawk volleyball team ended an eight-match losing slide with a convincing 3-1 win over host Samford Saturday afternoon.

With the win, UTM improves to 3-9 overall and 1-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

The Skyhawks will host Southern Illinois at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 5 in a non-conference match and then entertain Tennessee State at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 7 in an OVC contest. Both matches will be played in Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

The Skyhawks dropped the first game to Samford 30-23, but rallied to win 30-22, 30-24 and 30-24.

The Skyhawks turned in a .143 hitting percentage against Samford.

Junior Rebecca Palmer led the way for the Skyhawks with a .238 hitting percentage and 17 kills and 14 digs.

Senior Leigh Reiniche also posted a double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs.

Redshirt freshman Jamie Hollins came through with a team-high 19 digs in the match.

The Skyhawks won game one, 34-32, against host Jacksonville State Friday night, but then dropped the match by losing three straight, 30-19, 30-22 and 30-25.

Hollins and Reiniche recorded double-doubles against Jacksonville State.

Hollins had 17 kills and 12 digs, while Reiniche had 10 kills and 15 digs.

The Skyhawks then suffered a 3-0 loss to host Arkansas State (11-4) Monday night in Jonesboro.

Arkansas State won game one 30-26, claimed game two 30-20 and swept the match with a 30-24 victory in game three.

UTM hit .103 in the three games, while Arkansas State hit .208. The Skyhawks were led by Heather Grumke with 16 assists and Rebecca Palmer with 13 digs.

Arkansas State was led by Caitlyn Mitchell with 16 kills and 14 digs.

Giedre Tarnauskaite hit .353 and recorded 15 kills and 14 digs against the Skyhawks.