Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State suffocated the UT Martin attack and swept the Skyhawks (25-11, 25-19, 25-9) to clinch at least the second seed in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference tournament that begins Sunday.

Morehead State (20-8, 14-3 OVC) held the Skyhawks to a -.153 hitting percentage while posting a .325 attack efficiency of their own. Senior Bailey Brashear set career highs with eight total blocks, including three block solos.

Senior M.E. Hargan led the MSU attack with 14 kills, hitting .370. Junior Hollan Everett finished with eight kills and fellow junior Amelia Nott added seven.

The Eagles jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in the opening set, led by Hargan with three kills and a service ace, her 36th of the season. A four-point MSU run put the Eagles ahead 17-6; the Eagles ran off another five straight to go up 23-9 and closed out the set with Everett's fourth termination of the opening set. Brashear led the way at the net with three blocks including a block solo. The Eagles posted a sparkling .419 hitting percentage in the set.

The second set played very differently as the score was close through the early stages of the frame. The Eagles ran out to an early 3-0 lead. The Skyhawks responded by taking five of the next six points to go ahead 5-4. A three-point run by UTM put the Skyhawks ahead 15-13 at the technical timeout.

MSU roared out of the break with a 7-0 run, highlighted by two Hargan kills, two MSU blocks and was capped by a service ace by setter Sydney Sennett, to break away at 20-15. Morehead State finished off the set with a 4-1 run, highlighted by two Everett kills and Amelia Nott's fourth termination of the match. MSU posted a .409 attack efficiency in the set.

UT Martin (4-24, 3-14 OVC) was led by senior Kayla Bryant with just five kills. Bryant also added two service aces, giving her 44 on the season.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 0
MACOMB, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball picks up the sweep (3-0) at Western Illinois University in the first half of the final series of the 2025 regular season. With the win, the Screaming Eagles move to 13-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 17-12 overall.
 
With five aces from the Screaming Eagles' service line, they maintained possession of the ball for the majority of the set. Senior Bianca Anderson and junior Leah Coleman each landed three kills to lead the court. Ashby Willis led the back court, picking up five digs and leading the team with two aces. Junior McKenzie Murphy, who leads the conference in blocking, continued her dominance at the net, adding three blocks to help keep the WIU offense in the negative hitting percentage.
 
To kick off the second set, the Eagles saw a difficult serving run from the Leathernecks, which tallied four aces. USI fought back, regaining control of the lead after chipping away at the five-point lead the WIU serve had gained them. Freshman Carley Wright swung the momentum for the Eagles' side, tying the score with three back-to-back kills. She finished the set with seven kills on one error for a game-high .462 hitting percentage. Murphy kept up the net defense with two more blocks.  Freshman Aysa Thomas had her best set with 12 assists and six digs in the set.
 
After some back and forth to start the final set, Willis went on an eight-point serving run, gaining the Eagles a seven-point lead. The Leathernecks fought back with their own serving run to tie the game back up. Willis had her best offensive set, adding six kills, followed by Anderson, who added five. Libero Audrey Small kept the WIU offense at bay, picking up eight digs.

For the game, Willis finished with a double-double with 11 kills and 13 digs. Tying her in kills was Wright, who also finished with 11, and she ended with a .391 hitting percentage, committing just two errors for the best efficiency on the court.
 
OVC Freshman of the Week, Thomas, committed to her all-around performance with 28 assists, 11 digs, and three kills, marking her 20th double-double in her debut season.
 
The team finished with 70 digs for 23 per set, led by Small, who ended with 14, along with four other Eagles with double-digit digs. Defense at the net was led by Murphy, who finished with five blocks, including two solo. The team had seven blocks, adding to their season total so far of 244, to top the conference rankings.
 
The top seed of the OVC Tournament remains up for grabs after Tuesday's games as results around the league keep USI in a close third-place position, behind top seeds Morehead State University and Eastern Illinois University.

TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee Tech showed it is still very much a force in the Ohio Valley Conference as the Golden Eagles handed league-leader Eastern Illinois its third conference loss of the season as Tech swept the Panthers 3-0 on Tuesday night.

The Golden Eagles (14-15, 11-6 OVC) claimed the first set 25-22, the second 26-24 and the third 25-20 to complete the sweep. It was a tight contest despite the sweep as the three sets saw 24 tie scores and just six lead changes – four coming in the second set.

Bella Powell led the Golden Eagles with 11 kills and a .304 hitting percentage, while collecting two service aces with 16 receptions and six digs. Alayna Pierce had 10 kills with a .259 hitting percentage, while also tallying an assist, 10 receptions, five digs and an assisted block.

Jordan Karlen had a double-double with 31 assists and 10 digs, while MK Roberts led the team in digs with 13 and Mallory Jenkins had a team-best four assisted blocks.

The Panthers (20-7, 14-3 OVC) were led by Lilli Amettis with 11 kills, while Katie Kopshever had 10. Cataline Rochaix had 31 assists to match Karlen's tally, while Ariadna Pereles had a game-high 15 digs.

With the first matches of the week out of the way, EIU and Morehead State are now even at 14-3 for the top two spots in the standings. The Panthers still hold a tiebreaker with MSU, while Southern Indiana can match both of them Wednesday with EIU and Morehead losses.

Southeast Missouri, Little Rock and Tech all three won, leaving the trio deadlocked at 11-6. USI's victory Tuesday has secured the four-through-six spots for the Redhawks, Trojans and Golden Eagles with Wednesday's matches deciding the final seeding.

The opening set was square 13 times, the final time at 22 on a Tech service error. Tech received a point on an EIU service error to take the 23-22 lead, then MK Roberts delivered a service act, then an attack error by Kopshever gave Tech the early match advantage.

In the second set, Kopshever tied the set at 22, then Destiny Walker and Kopshever added two kills to take a 24-22 lead. The Golden Eagles battled back as Powell collected a kill, an attack error knotted the set at 24, then Tech took the lead on a Jenkins kill. The set ended on a Walker attack error.

After trailing 4-1, Tech rallied to take a 10-5 lead on a 9-0 run. The Golden Eagles led by as many as five and was able to hold off a Panther rally as the score only got as close as 20-18 before Tech was able to climb back out by five as Karlen clinched the match on a kill to make it 25-20.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Southeast Missouri State (19-12, 11-6 OVC) claimed a 3-1 victory over Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (12-16, 7-10 OVC) on Tuesday evening at First Community Arena, with scores of 17-25, 25-16, 25-17, and 25-21. Southeast Missouri State recorded a team hitting percentage of .299 and secured seven service aces to overcome the early deficit.
 
The Cougars took an early lead with kills from Sophie Robinson and Grace Nichols, assisted by Paige Bernstein, establishing a 2-0 advantage. SEMO responded with Marin Johnson's kill and a service ace, leveling the score at 5-5. SIUE regained momentum with a 6-1 run, featuring key kills from Kennedy Pike and Robinson, extending their lead to 11-6. Nina Schuberth served up her 50th ace of the season. Teagan Sullivan's service ace capped off the Cougars' dominance in the set, securing a 25-17 victory. 
 
Southeast Missouri State took an early 3-1 lead, bolstered by a block from Alaina Lester and Johnson. Katherine St. John and Ramiri Gardner each contributed key kills, helping the team stretch their advantage to 10-5. Alandry Below delivered a service ace to extend the lead to 15-8, showcasing the team's momentum. Lucy Arndt's decisive kill closed the set at 25-16, solidifying Southeast Missouri control.  
 
Johnson contributed with two early kills, while Arndt added one to keep SEMO competitive at the start. SEMO pulled ahead with a 5-0 run, featuring a service ace and two kills by Kara Oxenknecht. Arndt continued her strong performance with multiple kills, extending the visitor's lead to 21-13. Lester's kill secured the set for SEMO, closing the period with a 25-17 advantage.
 
Robinson opened scoring for the Cougars with a kill assisted by Bernstein. Johnson delivered three consecutive kills for the Redhawks, leveling the score at 4-4. Oxenknecht's two kills, both set up by Below, pushed the visitors ahead 8-6. Lucy Arndt picked up her 400th kill of the season. SEMO sealed the set 25-21 with a kill from Lester, assisted by Megan Holder.

LITTLE ROCK 3, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Little Rock took care of business Tuesday in the first of two matches at Lindenwood, and can clinch the No. 4 seed in next week's Ohio Valley Conference Championships with a win in tomorrow's regular season finale at Hyland Arena. 
 
The Trojans (16-13, 11-6 OVC) didn't blink in a staredown with a tough Lions squad, taking the match in straight sets, 25-23, 25-19, and 25-19. Little Rock hit .309 for the match, including .333 in the second set and .355 in the third, closing out the sweep.
 
Bella Cherry led the way, putting down a game-high 15 kills while hitting .367, and Crismeyli Rodriguez hit .500 to finish with 11 kills. A'lanae Margaritha served up four of Little Rock's eight aces on the evening, and Dariana Valencia finished with 19 assists, putting her in the program record book where she's now 10th all-time in career assists. 
 
Lindenwood tried to steer clear of Adriana Roman, one of the top liberos in the nation, but the junior still managed to lead all players with 14 digs. Valencia added 11 digs to finish off a double-double, while senior captain Jaycee Kennedy finished with five kills on six attacks with no errors (.833) to go with a pair of blocks.