Ohio Valley Conference

The 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship presented by Sunbelt Bakery gets underway today with four matches. The first match features No. 4 Lindenwood and No. 5 Tennessee Tech playing at 10 a.m. ET followed by No. 3 Morehead State and No. 6 Eastern Illinois at 12 p.m. ET. Top-seeded Chattanooga will play the winner of the Lindenwood/Tennessee Tech match at 2 p.m. ET while No. 2 UT Martin faces the winner of the Morehead State/Eastern Illinois match at 4 p.m. ET.

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Lindenwood beach volleyball (13-13, 4-6 OVC) ended day one of the Ohio Valley Conference Championships with a 1-1 record after defeating #5 Tennessee Tech to start the day before losing to the defending OVC Champs Chattanooga in the afternoon. The Lions will continue their journey for an OVC Championship on Friday during the double elimination style bracket.

Lindenwood started off the first day of the OVC Championships with a 3-1 victory over Tennessee Tech (4-18, 2-8 OVC) after some rain delays. The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead before claiming the third match win after an hour of rain delay.
 
The five pairs of Sienna King and Myah Hough earned a 2-0 victory over Jazmine Yamilkoski and McKenna Young by final scores of 21-15 and 21-12. Gabby Belcher and Aubrey Sheppard dominated in the fours defeating Emma Pabon and Ava Schubert by scores of 21-7 and 21-3.
 
Taylor Gentemann and Abby VanBuskirk were the lone Lions pair to fall in the match during the three pairs losing in three sets by scores of 12-21, 21-15 and 13-15. Nyah Wilson and Katie Bockhorst did not finish their match due to clinching the third match. The duo had scores of 22-20 and 20-21.
 
Annalie McWhorter and Abby Jacobs clinched the opening round win against the Golden Eagles after a three set win in the ones over Jordan Karlen and Bella Powell. The All-OVC Second Team duo picked up a three set win by scores of 21-10, 24-26 and 15-10.

#6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, #3 MOREHEAD STATE 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Eastern Illinois beach volleyball team defeated Morehead State in the opening round of the OVC Championship on Thursday. It was the program's first OVC Tournament win, as well as Eastern's first win of the 2025 season.

The sixth seeded Panthers pulled off the upset by a score of 3-1 against the No. 3 seed Eagles.

After falling behind early with a straight set loss in the No. 4 pairs, EIU won the next three matchups, beginning with a 2-1 win by No. 5 pair Lilli Amettis and Julia Udell (21-14, 15-21, 15-12).

Sylvia Hasz and Tori Mohesky then brought Eastern one step closer to victory in No. 3 matchup with a comeback win in three sets (15-21, 21-7, 17-15).

The No. 1 pair of Catalina Rochaix and Destiny Walker secured the clinching point for EIU with an impressive straight set win over MSU's First-Team All-OVC duo of Irene Wogenstahl and Bella Marita.

#1 CHATTANOOGA vs. #4 LINDENWOOD 
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Chattanooga beach volleyball opened its Ohio Valley Conference title defense on Thursday with a 3-1 victory over Lindenwood in the opening round of the 2025 OVC Championships hosted at the UTC Sports Complex.

The Sandy Mocs not only battled the Lions, but the elements as well as the team braved what can only be described as a torrential downpour over the UTC beach volleyball courts. While it made for a difficult obstacle, the Mocs were up for the challenge as they fought their way to a hard-fought win to propel Chattanooga into the winner's bracket semifinals on Friday.

UTC will now face off against UT Martin in a battle of the tournament's top-two seeds on Friday, April 25 at 2 p.m. ET. With a win, the Mocs advance to Saturday's OVC title match, which will be played at 12 p.m. ET. A loss to the Skyhawks would not mark the end of Chattanooga's weekend, as the Mocs would have the opportunity to battle back at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday in the loser's bracket semifinal, where the winner would advance to the championship match at noon.

All of Friday and Saturday's remaining festivities are free for the general public to attend. Fans can also catch the full slate of matches for the weekend on ESPN+.

As rain battered the UTC Sports Complex, the Mocs knew it would take a full team effort in order to navigate a Lindenwood squad that Chattanooga met just a year ago in the 2024 OVC title match.

Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge, playing on Court 5 for the Mocs, made an immediate impact for UTC as the duo quickly snapped up a 21-17, 21-11 victory to get the Sandy Mocs on the board first in the matchup. The Lions responded immediately though, as Lindenwood was able to grind out a three-set win over UTC's No. 4 pair of Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence to level things out at 1-1.

It was then the Court 3 pair of Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham that proved difference-makers for the Mocs, as the senior duo steamrolled their way to a 21-13, 21-8 win to put UTC ahead 2-1, just one win away from clinching the win over the Lions.

First Team All-OVC pair McKenna Faychak and Maddie Lecik then delivered the 'dagger' to Lindenwood, pickinh up 21-17 and 21-15 set wins in the No. 2 position to snatch the third and final Chattanooga victory over Lindenwood. Despite the rain, Faychak and company were ready for the moment.

UTC's Court 1 pairing of Neva Clark and Corina Vale saw their match go unfinished.

#2 UT MARTIN 3, #6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The University of Tennessee at Martin beach volleyball squad made its 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Championship debut today, soaring to a 3-0 sweep over No. 6 seed Eastern Illinois.
              
With the victory, the Skyhawks (23-8) advance in the winner's bracket to face No. 1 seed Chattanooga at 1 p.m. CT tomorrow.
              
Today's result marked the eighth sweep of the season for UT Martin, who extended its winning streak to 10 matches.
              
All-OVC second teamers Sydney Eckhardt and Reagan McGee moved to 23-3 on the season after a 21-14, 21-15 victory at No. 4 to get the scoring started. Teaming up for the first time this spring, Kristin Phillips and Kylie Surratt gave the Skyhawks a 2-0 cushion after a 21-11, 21-19 triumph at No. 5.
              
Needing just one more win to clinch the victory, Lauren Mariscal and Jenna Vallée improved to 11-2 together with a 21-9, 21-18 win at No. 3.
              
Playing to decision, UT Martin also led at both No. 1 (Riley Rushing/Dylan Sulcer up 14-9) and No. 2 (Kayla Bryant/Olivia O'Keefe up 15-7) in the first sets when the match was called.