Ohio Valley Conference

Day two of the 2025 Ohio Valley Conference Beach Volleyball Championship presented by Sunbelt Bakery continues with four matches on Friday. Lindenwood and Morehead State starts play at 10 a.m. ET in an elimination followed by Eastern Illinois versus Tennessee Tech. The two remaining teams in the winners bracket, No. 1 Chattanooga and No. 2 UT Martin, will face off at 2:00 p.m. ET. The last match of the day will see the winners of games five and six playing for a chance to move into the final three.
 

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Lions started elimination day with a 3-0 sweep over the Eagles of Morehead State (14-12, 7-3 OVC) marking the first time this season the Lions have defeated MSU. Lindenwood was able to pull off their first sweep of the tournament after the first three pairs won.
 
Myah Hough and Sienna King started the day off with two closes matches winning in two sets over the fives pair of Hollan Everett and Courtney Fitzgerald by scores of 21-19 and 21-19.
 
Gabby Belcher and Aubrey Sheppard continued their strong weekend with a three-set win in the fours over Brenna Bommer and Shea Hefner. The undefeated duo won by scores of 21-19, 18-21 and 16-14.
 
Abby VanBuskirk and Taylor Gentemann wrapped up the sweep picking up their first win of the weekend after taking down Peighton Isley and Amelia Nott in a three set battle. After leading 1-0 after the first set, the Lions' three pair fell in the second but responded in a big way winning the third 15-6. Both the ones and twos matches went unfinished as the Lions advanced to take on Tennessee Tech.

#5 TENNESSEE TECH 3, #6 EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The 2025 season officially came to a close for the Tennessee Tech beach volleyball team on Friday at the Ohio Valley Conference Championship in Chattanooga, but not without a fight from the Cookeville crew. The No. 5 purple and gold split a pair of tilts at the UTC Beach Volleyball Courts, topping No. 6-seeded Eastern Illinois before falling in a rematch with No. 4 Lindenwood.

The Golden Eagles (5-19) opened the day with a decisive victory over the Panthers (1-12), controlling the tilt for a 3-1 win. In the duel with Eastern Illinois, three straight-set victories provided the necessary damage to stay alive in the league's postseason event, with the unfinished pairing at No. 2 boasting a lead as well.

Leading the purple and gold to an early 1-0 lead, the No. 5 tandem of seniors Jazmine Yamilkoski and McKenna Young rolled to a pair of wins over EIU's Lilli Amettis and Julia Udell. The Tech veterans opened things with a 21-12 triumph in set one before closing things out with a 21-16 decision in the second set.

The Panthers bounced back with a match-tying win out of the No. 4 slot with Kaitlyn Flynn and Ariadna Pereles, picking up wins of 21-14 and 21-16 over the Golden Eagle team of seniors Emma Pabon and Elena Wallace. Tech responded with another win in straight sets, this time behind the tenacity of the No. 3 spot.

Sophomore MK Roberts and senior Aleeya Jones teamed up to take down Eastern Illinois' Tori Mohesky and Sylvia Hasz, edging the pair in a close battle in the opening set, 22-20. Roberts and Jones followed it by with a more decisive showing in set two, rocking a 21-17 victory for a 2-1 lead.

Closing out the key victory for the Cookeville crew, redshirt sophomore Jordan Karlen and senior Bella Powell joined forces at the No. 1 position for the clinching decision, topping the Panthers' Catalina Rochaix and Destiny Walker. Tech's top tandem turned in two titanic tallies in the win column, besting their EIU counterparts 21-13 and 21-12.

Not far from earning a win of their own, senior Brooke Amann and freshman Alayna Pierce controlled the battle at the No. 2 slot from the get-go. After claiming a 21-13 victory in the first set, the Tech partners ended the match unfinished with an 18-14 lead over EIU's Laura Paniagua and Emma Schroeder.

For the second day in a row, the Golden Eagles found themselves squaring off with the Lions in an eventual 3-2 win by Lindenwood. The St. Charles, Mo. squad turned in a comeback win this time around, as Tech made it a roller-coaster affair.

Finishing first in the tilt, the Lions' No. 4 team of Gabby Belcher and Aubrey Sheppard topped the Golden Eagles' Emma Pabon and Elena Wallace in straight sets by scores of 21-14 and 21-8, giving Lindenwood a 1-0 lead.

Tech answered back with a gutsy victory in the No. 5 slot, as seniors Jazmine Yamilkoski and McKenna Young claimed a marathon of a first set, 25-23. The veterans of the Cookeville crew deadlocked the affair at 1-1, avenging a loss to Lindenwood's Myah Hough and Sienna King with a 21-14 triumph in set two.

The purple and gold took their first lead of the duel behind a strong showing in straight sets by the No. 3 tandem of senior Aleeya Jones and sophomore MK Roberts. The Tech combo provided a 2-1 lead behind wins of 21-16 and 21-17 over the Lions' Abby VanBuskirk and Taylor Gentemann.

Lindenwood's Abby Jacobs and Annalie McWhorter forced another tie at 2-2 while representing the No. 1 spot, topping Tech redshirt sophomore Jordan Karlen and senior Bella Powell by scores of 21-13 and 21-19.

With the match on the line, it seemed only fitting that the decisive pairing at the No. 2 position would require all three sets. Golden Eagle senior Brooke Amann and freshman Alayna Pierce took control with a first-set triumph of 21-12, but the Lions' Nyah Wilson and Katie Bockhorst responded with tight victories of 22-20 and 15-12 to secure the Lindenwood win.

#1 CHATTANOOGA 3, #2 UT MARTIN 0
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - The Chattanooga beach volleyball program will have the opportunity to go back-to-back as Ohio Valley Conference tournament champions on Saturday after the Sandy Mocs took down UT Martin 3-0 on Friday.

The Mocs, who entered the OVC Championships as the No. 1 overall seed, had the energy of Mocs Nation behind them on Friday after a record 351 people (a program record for attendance) came out to the UTC Sports Complex to cheer on Chattanooga. Despite numerous lightning delays that led to a total match time of three hours and 48 minutes, the Mocs still got the job done by earning the team's 17th sweep of the season to advance to the title match.

UTC now await one of three teams (UT Martin or Lindenwood) to meet them in Saturday's title match, which is set for 12 p.m. ET at the UTC Sports Complex. Tomorrow's title match will be available to stream via ESPN+, but with Saturday's weather looking the clearest of the weekend, it makes for a perfect championship environment for fans to witness in person.

The Sandy Mocs needed to make a statement in front of a record crowd at the UTC Sports Complex on Friday, and UTC did exactly that to open up their match against the No. 2 seeded Skyhawks.

Playing on Court 5, the Chattanooga duo of Sydney Jackwin and Ansley Gulledge delivered the first blow of the day, stringing together 21-15, 21-16 set wins to pick up the straight-set victory, giving UTC a 1-0 advantage.

It was then Joy Courtright and Julia Lawrence that fought their way to a crucial win in the No. 4 position, as the senior-sophomore pairing were able to recover from a 21-19 loss in the opening set to reverse sweep their way to a 19-21, 21-16, 15-12 win that put the Mocs just one more win away from clinching a spot in Saturday's title match.

While each of the remaining three courts were able to get underway, it wouldn't last long as heavy rain and lightning entered the fray at UTC Sports Complex. This kicked off what ended up being a two-hour delay in the action, adding even more pressure to an already high-stress situation.

Finally, after numerous delays, the Mocs returned to the courts with the same goal in mind. Attention from on-lookers turned to Court 3, where UTC's Paige Gallentine and Kit Gresham found themselves in a third set that would determine whether the overall match would be clinched or extended depending on the result.

Gallentine and Gresham were dominant in a 21-14 first-set win, but after dropping the second set 21-19, the pair of seniors needed to come together to help punch UTC's ticket into the final. The duo came out of the break on fire, ripping off a multi-point scoring run that the Skyhawks could never recover from. With Gallentine delivering the game-winning blow, the Mocs were able to walk off the day with a 3-0 sweep over their rivals, putting Chattanooga a win away from the OVC title.

For seniors like Gallentine and Gresham, Saturday now presents a unique opportunity for them to play the final home match of their careers in the OVC title match with a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament on the line. It's an opportunity that none of them want to waste, but each of them will cherish for the rest of their lives.

#4 LINDENWOOD 3, TENNESSEE TECH 2 
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Lindenwood beach volleyball (15-13, 4-6 OVC) advanced to their second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference semifinal appearance after defeating Morehead State and Tennessee Tech in back-to-back matches. The Lions have now made the OVC semifinals for the second time in their first three seasons as a program.

In what was the closest match of the week thus far, the Lions pulled off an incredible 3-2 win over Tennessee Tech to keep their season alive. Lindenwood went a perfect 4-0 against the Golden Eagles this year as they inch closer to the championship match.

Belcher and Sheppard have become the only Lions' pair thus far to start the OVC Tournament with a perfect 4-0 record. The fours picked up the first point of the match in the fours after defeating Emma Pabon and Elena Wallace 21-14 and 21-18.

Tennessee Tech went on to take both points in the fives and threes as they took a 2-1 lead over the Lions. Hough and King lost in a tightly contested two set match by scores of 23-25 and 14-21. VanBuskirk and Gentemann also fell by scores of 16-21 and 17-21.

Coming down the wire, the ones pair of Abby Jacobs and Annalie McWhorter tied the match at 2-2 with an impressive two set sweep over Bella Powell and Jordan Karlen. The Lions even the series with scores of 21-13 and 21-19.

It all came down to the two pair as Nyah Wilson and Katie Bockhorst battled Alayna Pierce and Brooke Amann. After TTU took the first set 12-21, Wilson and Bockhorst responded coming back multiple times to take the second set by a score of 22-20. After trailing by two points early in the third and final set, the Lions responded with a come from behind victory winning 15-12 and helped the Lions to their second consecutive OVC semifinals appearance.