Ohio Valley Conference

MARTIN, Tenn. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball earns the victory in four sets over the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday afternoon, securing the tenth Ohio Valley Conference win of the season.
 
The team moves to 14-12 overall and 10-4 in conference play, officially earning their spot in the OVC tournament with the first UT Martin win on Friday night.
 
The Screaming Eagles had a tough start, allowing the Skyhawks to go on an 8-1 scoring run in the beginning of the set that they couldn't recover from. Freshman Aysa Thomas dished out six assists, five digs, and snuck in one kill. Three Eagles landed two kills each, junior McKenzie Murphy led with no errors to hit .667 percent.
 
After earning the first point with a kill from freshman Carley Wright, the Eagles maintained the lead for the entirety of the set. The USI momentum was helped with a five-point scoring run from Ashby Willis, including an ace from the junior. Outside hitter Leah Coleman led the team with six kills, making just one error to hit a .417 percentage. The Eagle offense had their most efficient set of the game, hitting 19 kills with just four errors for a .357 percentage.
 
With some back and forth at the start of the set, the Screaming Eagles took control of the game at the 15th point. Willis went on another six-point serving run to help swing the point advantage for the Eagles. Senior Bianca Anderson led the offense with four kills and no errors. Sophomore libero Audrey Small had her best set, picking up 10 digs, which helped keep the Skyhawk offense to their least efficient set.
 
The Eagles ended the game on a 9-1 scoring run, with sophomore Kerigan Fehr serving eight times, including an ace. Willis led the court with five kills in the final set, followed by Coleman, who added another four to her tally. Small kept the back court alive, picking up 10 more digs.
 
For the game, Willis and Thomas both finished with double-doubles. Willis recorded a game-high 14 kills and 12 digs, and Thomas with 44 assists and also had 12 digs. Leading the court, Small tied her season-high with 26 digs.
 
The team finished with 80 digs for 20 digs per set. As a team, USI put up eight blocks, Anderson and Willis each tallied five block assists, and Murphy earned the lone solo block for the team. Five Eagles landed an ace from the service line, and Fehr led with two.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, LINDENWOOD 0
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (16-12, 8-6 OVC) swept Lindenwood (10-12, 6-8 OVC) in straight sets on Saturday at Houck Field House, winning 25-15, 25-21, 29-27. The Redhawks posted an impressive .343 hitting percentage, with 47 total kills across the match.

SEMO surged to an early 5-1 advantage, highlighted by a service ace and a kill from Kara Oxenknecht. Avery Torrey and Ramiri Gardner contributed with multiple kills, pushing the lead to 12-8. Despite the Lions' efforts to stay close, Gardner's consistent scoring helped extend the lead to 19-14. The Redhawks closed the set with a 6-1 run, including a kill from Katherine St. John, securing the set 25-15.

Marin Johnson opened scoring for the Redhawks with a kill assisted by Holland Guilliams. Lindenwood tied the score at 5-5 with a series of points, including two consecutive kills by Jade Roth. SEMO regained the lead with a service ace from Lucy Arndt and a block by Gardner and Johnson, advancing the score to 12-9. Torrey's kill secured the set for the Redhawks at 25-21.

Roth delivered three early kills for the Lions, helping the team take a 6-2 lead. SEMO responded with a scoring run, highlighted by Nina Schuberth's two service aces, to go ahead 11-6. Lindenwood tied the set at 18-18 with a series of plays, including service aces from Alayna Rudebeck and a kill by Shannon Monahan. Gardner's late kill and a block by Oxenknecht as Marin Johnson secured the set 29-27 for the Redhawks, completing the sweep.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE - The EIU volleyball team outpaced the Tigers in four sets to close out the weekend series. The Panthers improved to 18-6 (12-2 OVC), while the Tigers fell to 1-28 (0-16 OVC). 

While last night consisted of hot starts for the Panthers, the Tigers kept the set close with the score tied at 9-9. EIU struck first threatening to run away with the set, scoring three straight points, causing TSU to use a timeout. The 3-0 run was the longest scoring run of the match so far. After the break in the action, the Panthers turned their offense up a notch, extending their lead to 18-13 with kills by Catalina Rochaix, Destiny Walker, and Emma Schroeder. Shortly after, EIU sped away from the Tigers, closing out set one 25-15.  

The Panthers slowly started set two, trailing 10-8 early, due to a couple of service errors. The Tigers continued to maintain an arm's length away until EIU finally found a spark offensively, scoring six straight points to take their first lead of the set, 15-11. TSU called time to stop the bleeding; however, EIU held their largest lead of the set 18-12, after the break. With the set in their hands, leading 20-15, EIU became complacent, giving up four straight Tigers points to close the set within one. Not too long after, the Tigers would retake the lead 22-21, forcing Ryan Miller to use his first timeout of the match. TSU used their momentum to propel themselves into the victory column for a set two victory.  

After losing a large lead in set two, EIU wasted no time regaining control of the match, leading 10-4 early. Multiple kills by Walker and errors by the Tigers allowed the Panthers to cushion their lead to 16-12. A late timeout by the Tigers did not faze the Panthers as they scored five straight points to close out set three, 25-15. Katie Kopshever and Walker continued to direct the Panthers offense to their set victory.  

Panthers jumped out of the gate with multiple scoring runs led by Kopshever, Walker, and Rochaix, holding an early 10-4 lead. EIU was threatening to run away with the match, leading 14-6 after scoring four straight points. The Tigers were desperate to come back in the match called time; however, once again the break wouldn't stop the momentum. The Panthers scored five unanswered to hold a large 20-8 lead. TSU attempted a late charge, scoring four points, but it was not enough as EIU held strongly, winning 25-13. 

Destiny Walker and Lilli Amettis led the way offensively with 17 kills. Amettis recorded a .474 hitting percentage, while Walker produced 11 digs. Rochaix continues to stand out with 44 assists, and Ariadna Pereles anchors the defense once again with 18 digs. Anaya Rawlinson led the match with 3 blocks. As a team, EIU recorded a .306 hitting percentage, 64 kills, 55 assists, 64 digs, and 8 blocks.