Ohio Valley Conference

CHARLESTON, Ill. -  The second-seeded Morehead State volleyball team opened the Ohio Valley Conference tournament with a sweep (25-18, 25-19, 25-20) over the number-seven seed SIUE Sunday in Charleston, Illinois.

Morehead State (22-8, 15-3 OVC) was led by a trio of players with double-digit kills, headed by OVC Player of the Year M.E. Hargan with 12. Junior All-OVC Second Team selection Hollan Everett and Sarah Heath added 11 apiece.

Hargan added a match-high 11 digs for her 35th career double-double and the 15th of the season. Heath posted a career-high .611 attack efficiency with 11 kills on 18 swings with no errors. Everett hit .269 and added three blocks, including a block solo.

Junior Amelia Nott, also an All-OVC Second Team selection this season, led a stout effort at the net for Morehead State with five total blocks, including one solo. The Eagles held the SIUE to a .134 hitting percentage for the match.

Junior All-OVC First Team selection Sydney Sennett posted 36 assists, running the Morehead State offense that posted a .347 attack efficiency. The match was the 22nd of the season and the 11th of the last 13 in which Sennett posted 30+ assists.

The first set opened closely contested. A five-point run by Morehead State highlighted by two kills from Sennett and a Logan Smith service ace put the Eagles ahead 12-7. A 4-0 Eagle run stretched the MSU lead to 16-8. MSU closed out the set with Hargan's fourth kill of the set. The Eagles got a balanced attack: five players had multiple kills led by Hargan and Everett with four apiece.

A three-point run highlighted by an ace by Eagle libero Courtney Fitzgerald gave MSU an early 8-4 lead in the second set. SIUE responded with small runs and stayed within three points of the Eagles into the late portion of the set. The Eagles closed out the set with a 4-1 run powered by two kills from Everett, who slammed five in the set. Hargan and Heath each tallied four terminations apiece as the MSU attack revved up to post a .500 attack percentage in the frame.

The third set mirrored the opening frame opening closely contested. A 3-0 run capped by Fitzgerald's second ace of the match was answered by a four-point SIUE run to put the Cougars ahead 9-7. A four-point SIUE run gave the Cougars their largest lead of the match at 15-10.

A five-point run highlighted by two kills by Everett tied up the set 15-15. A six-point Eagle run gave MSU separation at 21-17. Hargan closed out the match with two kills to give the Eagles the match victory. MSU posted a .323 attack percentage in the final frame.

SIUE (12-18, 7-11 OVC) was led by Sophie Robinson with nine kills, hitting .278. Grace Nichols and Kyndia Smith added six kills apiece.

#3 SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, #6 TENNESSEE TECH 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. -  University of Southern Indiana Volleyball picks up the win over No. 6 Tennessee Tech University to advance to the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
 
In the program's second appearance in the tournament in school history, the Screaming Eagles took the win in a four-set battle. The game marked the third time USI has met the Golden Eagles this season, after splitting a home-and-away series 1-1.
 
In the winningest season in the program's Division I era, USI moves to a 19-12 overall record and 15th win against an OVC opponent.
 
The Screaming Eagles kicked off the first set in their OVC Tournament run in a tough-fought battle with the Golden Eagles. The two teams engaged in a back-and-forth fight to take control of the lead, but TTU managed to pull away with a three-point run to reach 15 points first. Carley Wright, who is the league's Freshman of the Week, started her first postseason match, adding four kills to the board. OVC Freshman of the Year, Aysa Thomas, kicked off her game with 10 assists and six digs.
 
USI bounced back in the second set, keeping pressure on TTU from the service line, the Eagles were able to start breaking down the Golden Eagles' offense. Senior Bianca Anderson took charge of the USI offense, adding four kills and a block. Junior Ashby Willis remained error less through the second set, doubling her kill count with three more. Willis also led the serve game with two aces and pushed the Eagles ahead with a six-point serving run.
 
The USI offense boasted its most efficient set of the game in the third set, hitting a .310 percent for 18 kills and five errors as a team. After going back and forth with control of the lead, Thomas put together an eight-point serving run to push the Eagles to set-point and finish out the frame. Wright had her most successful set, with seven kills, hitting a .583 percent, and added two blocks to help shut down the TTU offense. Sophomore Kerigan Fehr added her name to the digs board, picking up five.
 
USI closed out the win with a set that the squad had to fight point-to-point for control of the lead until the Screaming Eagles broke away after the media timeout at 15-14. Right side Wright added five more kills to the board, followed by Anderson with three. Thomas snuck two kills across the net, and dished six assists out. With three blocks as a team, the Eagles were able to keep the TTU offense to their least efficient set of the game.
 
For the game, the No. 3 Screaming Eagles added 61 team digs, 55 kills, eight blocks, and six aces to take down the Golden Eagles, finishing out the 2025 season two wins to one against TTU. Three USI players finished with double-digit kills, led by Wright, who tied her career-high with 18 kills. Anderson followed Wright with 12 kills, hitting a .333, the All-OVC Second Team selection remained one of the most efficient on the court. All-OVC First Team selection, Willis hit 11 kills, with just one error in the match, for a .256 hitting percentage.
 
Continuing her Freshman of the Year level performance, Thomas added her 22nd double-double of the season with 39 assists, 20 digs, and four kills. This match marks just the second game this season that the setter has picked up 20 or more digs.
 
Sophomore Audrey Small added 21 digs to lead both sides of the net on defense. The USI block game was split between Wright, Anderson, and OVC leader in blocks, McKenzie Murphy, as they each added four block assists.

#1 EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, #8 LINDENWOOD 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panthers returned home to host the OVC tournament and survived a first-round five-match thriller against No. 8 seeded Lindenwood. EIU will advance to the semifinals to face SEMO with a championship match appearance on the line. The match is scheduled for 6:00 PM CT on ESPN+.  

The Panthers opened the OVC tournament sluggishly, trailing 6-1 early after multiple errors committed by the home team. Eastern Illinois tried to find a rhythm but headed into the media timeout down 15-11. After the break, EIU finally showed life, using back-to-back Lindenwood attack errors to score three straight points. However, the Lions responded with a multi-scoring run of their own to take a 20-15 advantage. Panthers facing adversity responded in style with a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 23-21. The Lions held off the rowdy crowd to earn a set two victory, 25-21.  

With both teams settled into the match, set two was a tight battle throughout. The match was tied at eight until EIU finally broke through to hold their first true lead of the match, 12-9. EIU put their foot on the gas to extend their lead to 15-10 heading into the media timeout. Shortly after the stoppage of play, the Lions would take their turn, scoring the next 3 out of the 4 points. Then, Lindenwood's offense exploded, scoring three straight, including a service ace by Kylee Richey, to pull within two (16-18). Coach Millar used a timeout to stop the bleeding, which worked as EIU got back on track; closing set two with a 25-21 victory.  

EIU jumped out of the gate in a pivotal set three, leading 11-7 using multiple Destiny Walker kills to take control. Both teams took turns scoring until a Katie Kopshever kill and an attack error by Bax gave EIU a 15-8 lead. The equal battle continued heading into the final stretch with EIU leading 20-15. Moments after, EIU used a powerful kill by Emma Schroeder to pull the Panthers within two points from closing the set out. Eastern Illinois would eventually close out the set 25-20 after an Ariadna Pereles service ace. 

EIU started strong, scoring three in a row and doubling up Lindenwood with an 8-4 lead. The Lions would respond with three quick points later on to even the set at 10. The theme of the night continued to result in a back-and-forth contest, leaving the Lions up one heading into the media timeout. In the late stages of set four, Lindenwood took control, scoring four straight unanswered points to hold a 22-18 lead off a Dana Grib service ace. With the set looking the Lions' way, EIU stormed back using a kill by Walker and two Lions attack errors. Unfortunately, the Lions pulled away late to win the set 25-23.   

With the opportunity to advance to the semifinals on the line, the Panthers played their best set of the night. Back-to-back attack errors by the Lions gave EIU an early 5-2 lead. Moments after, the Panthers roared to a 10-4 lead after a kill by Tori Mohesky and a service ace by Catalina Rochaix. EIU held strong, using their high-tempo offense directed by Lilli Amettis and Emma Schroeder to close out set five with a 15-7 victory.  

Destiny Walker led the team with 14 kills and 8 digs. Katie Kopshever followed along with 14 kills and 6 digs. Rochaix was dominant as usual, directing the offense with 49 assists. Defensively, Ariadna Pereles held strong with 10 digs paired with 8 blocks by Emma Schroeder, 5 block assists by Lilli Amettis, and 4 block assists by Anaya Rawlinson. As a team, EIU totaled 16 block assists, 44 digs, and 53 kills.
 
#4 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, #5 LITTLE ROCK 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (21-12, 12-6 OVC) edged out Little Rock (16-15, 11-7 OVC) in a five-set thriller at Gardella Family Court at McAfee Gym, securing a 3-2 victory with scores of 18-25, 27-25, 16-25, 25-16, and 15-13. The match saw the Redhawks rally with a strong fourth set, posting a .375 hitting percentage to force a decisive fifth set.

The Trojans took an early lead, with Sophia Garrido and Bella Cherry contributing kills to push the score to 7-1. The Redhawks responded with a block by Ramiri Gardner and Reagan Nelson, narrowing the gap to 10-3. Nelson sparked a late rally for the Redhawks with consecutive kills, cutting the deficit to 22-15. The Trojans maintained their lead, closing the set 25-18 with a Vivian Lucumi kill.  

Southeast Missouri started the set with a strong 3-0 lead, fueled by two consecutive service aces from Nina Schuberth. Nelson contributed significantly, recording multiple kills with assists from Megan Holder, maintaining the home team's momentum. The Trojans rallied to tie the set at 21-21, highlighted by key kills from Crismeyli Rodriguez and Jaycee Kennedy. SEMO clinched the set 27-25 after capitalizing on an attack error by Garrido.

The Trojans started strong, taking an early 5-1 lead with A'lanae Margaritha contributing a kill and a block. Nelson responded for the Redhawks with multiple kills, aided by assists from Holder. Cherry was instrumental for the Trojans, recording several kills as they extended their advantage to 20-9. Marin Johnson's late kills for the Redhawks were not enough to close the gap, as the Trojans secured the set 25-16.  

The Trojans took an early advantage with a 6-2 lead, fueled by key plays from Cherry and Garrido. SEMO rallied with a series of kills by Johnson and Oxenknecht, leveling the score at 13-13. St. John and Johnson combined efforts during a decisive 9-1 run, pushing the Redhawks ahead 22-14. Nelson's final kill sealed the set for the Redhawks, closing it at 25-16.

Rodriguez opened scoring for the Trojans, but a service error quickly leveled the score at 1-1. Nelson delivered consecutive kills to help the Redhawks pull ahead 4-2.  Alandry Below contributed with assists, including one to Johnson, extending the lead to 10-4. The Trojans closed the gap with a 5-0 run, featuring a service ace by Andrea Roman, but Katherine St. John's kill secured the set 15-13 for the Redhawks. .