Ohio Valley Conference

CHARLESTON, Ill. - The conference standings are now tied at the top after EIU opens the weekend with a 3-0 sweep over the conference leader, Morehead State. The Panthers improve to 19-6 (13-2 OVC), while the Eagles drop to 19-7 (13-2 OVC).  

Going into the weekend, both teams knew it would be a tight battle, which was on display early with the Panthers and Eagles trading points. With the score knotted up at 9, EIU found the first momentum charge of the night with a 3-0 scoring run to take the early 12-19 lead. Heading into the media timeout, the Panthers remained out in front with a 15-13 lead. The Eagles used to break in the action to regroup using a 3-0 run of their own to take a 16-15 advantage. Late in the match, Morehead State threatened to close the set with a 24-22 lead after a 3-0 scoring run. How the Panthers did not panic and scored four straight points after a timeout to win the first set 26-24. Set one featured 19 tie scores and 12 lead changes. 

The Eagles started red hot in the second set, leading 5-0 early. Once again EIU was not fazed by the pressure, tying the match at 8 apiece. The Panthers continued their run, finding themselves in the lead 12-9 after a 4-0 scoring run. Morehead State was forced to use a timeout to stop the bleeding, but the EIU Panther nation of 423 fans was roaring, pushing the Panthers to extend to 16-10 after back-to-back kills by Destiny Walker. The Eagles used their second timeout of the set and attempted a late comeback, cutting the score to 23-18. However, EIU closed out set two 25-18, charged by an Emma Schroeder kill. 

Set three was all EIU, jumping out to a 10-5 lead early in the set. The Panthers extended their dominating start to a 13-6 lead after an Ariadna Pereles service ace. After an Eagles timeout, the Panthers ran away with the match, scoring the next 5 out of 6 points charged by Lilli Amettis directing the offense. Not too long after, the Panthers put the match out of reach using another long scoring run with a late 22-10 lead. The Panthers earned match one victory of the weekend after a kill by the player of the game, Destiny Walker.  

Destiny Walker led the way offensively with 17 kills, 20 points, and a .438 hitting percentage. Kopshever followed with 14 kills and a .542 hitting percentage. Catalina Rochaix produced 30 assists. As a team, EIU recorded 47 kills, 44 assists, 6 blocks, and a .396 hitting percentage.

TENNESSEE TECH 3, LITTLE ROCK 2
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Tennessee Tech won the first two sets and looked to be in cruise control, but Little Rock battled back, stunning the Golden Eagles in the third and fourth sets to force the decider. Even then, it took extra points in the fifth set for Tech to emerge victorious on Thursday night, winning 3-2.

Tech led 14-10 in the fifth, needing just one point to end the match, but the Trojans tied the match on two straight blocks, a kill and an attack error. Dariana Valencia had a serve error to put Tech up 15-14, then A'lanae Margaritha evened things back up again with a kill.

The Golden Eagles moved back into match point as Sophia Garrido had an attack error, then Alayna Pierce finished things off with a kill off of Jordan Karlen's assist to win the deciding set 17-15.

Tech won the first two sets with a 25-19 and 25-22 score. The Trojans countered with dominating sets, winning 25-13 and 25-11.

Pierce led all attackers with 19 kills and 14 digs for a double-double, while Bella Powell finished with nine kills and 19 digs. Ava Schubert and Jordyn Milhouse each had eight kills.

Garrido led the Trojans with 17 kills, while Margaritha had 12 kills. Andrea Roman led the team with 38 digs, while Valencia had a double-double with 29 assists and 13 digs.

With the victory, the Golden Eagles move into sole possession of fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings, one game back of Southern Indiana and three back of Eastern Illinois and Morehead State with three matches remaining.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, LINDENWOOD 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball grabs the win over Lindenwood University in four sets inside Liberty Arena Thursday night.

The Screaming Eagles improve to 11-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 15-12 overall, remaining in third place in the conference standings.

Lindenwood went on a five-point scoring run at the start of the match. Freshman Carley Wright led the court in kills, landing four on no errors to hit a .500 percent. She was able to swing the momentum for the Eagles in pivotal moments, ending the Lions' serving runs to get the side out. Sophomore Audrey Small picked up four digs to lead the back row, keeping the Lions offense to a low .172.

The Screaming Eagles quickly took control of the match with a 14-4 scoring run to start the first half of the set. Freshman Aysa Thomas landed three kills in the set, leading the offense with senior Bianca Anderson, who also added three. Junior McKenzie Murphy was a wall at the net for the Eagles. She added a solo block and five block assists, for six total in the set.

USI maintained the lead for the entirety of the set, finishing with a 12-point advantage over the Lions. Anderson led the offense with three kills, followed by Thomas, Murphy, and Wright, who each added two. As a team, the Eagles hit a .429 hitting percentage, recording just one error in the set. Senior Keira Moore kept the pressure on Lindenwood from the service line, landing three aces during her six-point serving run.
 
The Lions came back for the final set to fight, taking the lead three times in the first 10 points, before the Eagles took it over. Junior Ashby Willis landed four of her six kills for the evening in the final set. Small and Thomas each picked up three digs to keep the pressure on the LU offense.

For the game, OVC Freshman of the Week, Thomas tabbed her 19th career double-double, finishing with 35 assists, 10 digs, and a career-high seven kills. Anderson led the team with 10 kills, followed by Wright with nine.
 
Murphy ended with eight total blocks, helping the Eagles to 12 total, the most the team has had since the win over the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (17-12, 9-6 OVC) swept Western Ill. (7-21, 4-11 OVC) in straight sets on Thursday evening at Houck Field House, with scores of 26-24, 25-18, 25-18. SEMO recorded a .303 hitting percentage, outpacing Western Illinois' .174.

Ramiri Gardner initiated the scoring for the Redhawks with a kill assisted by Alandry Below. Marin Johnson contributed significantly with multiple kills, including one that tied the game 2-2. Lucy Arndt delivered crucial service aces, pushing Southeast Mo. St.'s lead to 15-8. The set concluded with SEMO capitalizing on attack errors by Western Ill., taking the first set 26-24.

SEMO began with a quick 2-0 lead, thanks to a block by Ramiri Gardner and a service ace from the team. Gardner and Kara Oxenknecht combined for impactful kills, pushing the score to 5-3 in favor of the home team. Katherine St. John added two crucial kills as the Redhawks extended their lead to 9-5. Arndt sealed the set with a decisive kill, securing a 25-18 victory for Southeast Mo. St.

SEMO began with momentum, capitalizing on a service error by Western Illinois and a kill by Arndt. Oxenknecht contributed significantly with multiple kills, maintaining a narrow lead against Western Illinois. Below and Megan Holder orchestrated the offense effectively, setting up several key points, including a service ace by Nina Schuberth. SEMO concluded the set with a 25-18 victory, completing a 3-0 sweep.

UT MARTIN 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team found its stride late in the first set and never looked back tonight, soaring to a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-14, 25-21) over Ohio Valley Conference foe Tennessee State at Skyhawk Fieldhouse.

UT Martin trailed by an 18-13 margin in the opening set before a prolonged Skyhawk run flipped the momentum. UT Martin never trailed in the second and third sets to pick up a victory in the frontend of the final two home matches of the 2025 campaign.

Kayla Bryant led all players with 14 kills on a blistering .444 hitting percentage to go along with eight digs and a pair of service aces. Carly Mueller also had the hot hand on both ends this evening, picking up nine kills in 14 swings (.500 attack percentage) to go along with a match-high five blocks.

Ava Peters (31 assists, nine digs) and Dylan Sulcer (11 digs) additionally led the Skyhawks, who hit a season-best .239 tonight – topping the previous season-high by a sizeable 45 points.

Maddy Gladson accounted for the first two kills of the night as UT Martin raced out to a 5-1 lead. The Tigers then scored 16 of the next 23 points to go on top by five points late in the stanza. The Skyhawks responded right back with 12 of the final 13 points down the stretch, keyed by five kills by Bryant during that span. Overall, Bryant had seven kills on a .385 attack percentage while Peters dished out 11 assists in the first set.

UT Martin started the second set with four consecutive points as Ella McFarland had a hand in two points with a kill and block assist. After Tennessee State closed to within one point, the Skyhawks converted six unanswered points to create some separation. Kristin Phillips had three straight kills for UT Martin halfway through the stanza before another 5-0 UT Martin run in the waning moments officially sealed the deal. For the second straight set, the stingy Skyhawk defense held the Tigers to an .000 hitting percentage.

The duo of Mueller and McFarland teamed up for a block assist and had one kill apiece to help guide UT Martin to a 4-2 edge in the third set. A trio of Bryant kills in a four-point stretch extended the Skyhawk advantage out to 9-6. A McFarland kill capped off a 4-0 UT Martin run immediately following Tennessee State pulling back to within a single point (16-15). Bryant (kill) and Phillips/Peters (block assist apiece) then closed out the victory with the final two points of the evening. Bryant was responsible for five kills on a .556 attack percentage and a team-high five digs in the final stanza.