FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, Belmont 0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-19)
@Tennessee State 3, SIUE 0 (25-19, 25-16, 25-14)
Southeast Missouri 3, @Murray State 1 (27-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-17)
@Tennessee Tech 3, Eastern Illinois 1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, BELMONT 0
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Led by 12 kills from sophomore Irene Wogenstahl and 10 from grad student Olivia Lohmeier, the Morehead State volleyball team cruised to its 13th consecutive win Friday night, beating Belmont 3-0.
The Eagles, who remain in first place in the OVC with three matches to play in the regular season, improved to 13-2 in the OVC and 17-9 overall. Belmont slipped to 7-8 in the league and 9-16 overall. The Eagles won 25-19, 25-13, 25-19.
Wogenstahl hammered down her 12 kills on just 17 swings with only one error for a career-best .647 hitting percentage. Lohmeier, meanwhile, moved to fourth place in career kills in OVC history and became just the fourth player ever with 1,900 or more kills in league history as she upped her career spikes number to 1,903. She needs just seven more to move into third place past former EKU player Jennifer James.
Lohmeier also played a little more on the back row tonight, nearly getting a double-double with nine digs. Junior libero Allison had double-digit digs again with 11 as the Eagles led in digs 52-39.
Freshman right-side Maycie Welborn also continued her solid first year with nine kills off a career-best .467 hitting efficiency.
Freshman middle McKenzee Wagener was stout again as usual at the net with four blocks, while Lohmeier helped with three rejections. Setter Bridget Bessler handed out 35 assists on the Eagles' 47 kills. MSU more than doubled the Bruins on kill totals, 47-20.
The Eagles and Bruins play again Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
TENNESSEE STATE 3, SIUE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Senior Night was great as the Tennessee State Tigers (10-14, 2-13 OVC) defeated Southeast Illinois University-Edwardsville in straight sets (25-19, 25-16 and 25-14). The win stopped an eleven-game losing streak. Seniors Aria Holmes (12 kills), Mion Weldon (nine kills) and Aniya Williams (eight kills) combined for 29 kills helping the team hit at a blistering .451 hitting percentage in the victory.
The first set was the was the closest of the match. The Tigers used a .500 hitting percentage to overcome four SIUE aces to take the set. Neither team took more than a two point lead until SIEU went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. Two consecutive service aces by Grace Beekman fuel the run. The Tigers then went on an 8-1 run, fueled by four Sofia Garcia-Guerrios assists to take over the set.
A Beekman kill, stopped the run but TSU scored the next three points to stop any thoughts of SEIU getting back in the set to go up 22-16. Williams finished the set off with two kills.
Early on the two teams traded points until TSU took the set over going on a 7-2 run to go up 12-6. Aleksandra Rojecka (nine kills) was huge during the run converting on three consecutive kills. A Weldon kill made TSU the first to 15 at 15-11. The Tigers continued on making the run 6-1to make it 19-11. Weldon had three kills and Holmes had two during the run.
The Tigers wouldn't let SEIU get back in it matching them point for point. They finally finished the set off on a service ace by Kristian Williams.
With the score tied at three, TSU took control of the match going on an 8-0 run. Williams was big converting three service aces. With the score 13-5, TSU then went on a 6-0 run and never looked back, finishing the match off on a Holmes kill.
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI, MURRAY STATE 1
MURRAY, Ky. - Laney Malloy had a game-high 15 kills with 10 digs as Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (21-6, 12-3 OVC) registered 15 blocks in a 3-1 (27-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-17) victory over Murray State (13-11, 7-7 OVC) Friday evening at Racer Arena.
SEMO's 15 blocks were the most in an Ohio Valley Conference match this season.
The Redhawks and Racers met for the 90th time and SEMO seized the momentum to earn its league best 21st victory of the season.
In a close first set, SEMO fell behind, 12-6, before putting together a 15-3 run to take a 21-15 advantage. Zoey Beasley gave the Redhawks their first lead of the match (15-14) with her kill off an assist by Claire Ochs.
After MSU battled back to tie things up at 23-23, SEMO answered with four of the final six points to claim the set, 27-25. An attack error by Alexa Harris allowed the Redhawks to finish off their two-point win.
Tied, 8-8, in the second set, SEMO rallied to outscore MSU by a count of 17-5. The Redhawks scored six of the final seven points of the set to bury the Racers. Malloy had kills on two of the Redhawks final four points of the set giving SEMO all the momentum.
After dropping the third frame, the Redhawks closed out their win with a strong final set victory.
SEMO never trailed in the fourth set and led by as many as nine points (22-13) on a service ace by Malloy. A kill by Beasley buried the Racers for good.
Beasley added 14 kills and a match-high six blocks. Elissa Moylan also had six blocks for the Redhawks. Colby Greene hit .318 with eight kills for the contest.
Ochs dished out 39 assists to accompany 10 digs.
Tara Beilsmith led the defense with 18 digs and six assists while Ally Dion added 11 digs. Kayla Closset finished with 10.
SEMO surpassed 20 wins in a season for the third time in Julie Yankus' career as head coach. The Redhawks also improved to 57-33 all-time in their series against the Racers.
The Redhawks who are 26-5 in OVC play since the start of the 2020 campaign, play MSU again Saturday. First serve is set for 6 p.m., CT.
SEMO has won 11 of its last 12 matches.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - Strong showings on both sides of the ball propelled the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to its second straight win Friday evening, as the Golden Eagles (13-13, 8-7) defeated Eastern Illinois (10-15, 3-12) in the Hooper Eblen Center, 3-1 (25-18, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19).
The purple and gold hit .267 as a unit on the night, compiling a whopping 57 kills in just four sets of action. The Tech squad also tallied 11.0 blocks and six service aces in the contest, besting the Panthers in Cookeville for the third time this calendar year.
The Golden Eagles cruised to victory in set one, with a 5-0 run featuring a pair of Madeline Furtado kills and three service aces from McKenna Young jettisoning the home squad out to a six-point lead. EIU never got closer than three points the rest of the way, with Tech taking the first game 25-18.
Tech looked well on its way to victory in the second set of the evening, moving out in front by five at 13-8, but the Panthers fought their way back. Eastern Illinois closed the gap and eventually tied things at 16-16, forcing a battle until the end. EIU took the set 25-23 to tie things at a game apiece.
It was a legitimate back-and-forth affair in set three, with both sides trading points from 3-2 to 11-10. Lauren Toledo broke the streak with a service ace, giving Tech its first two-point lead of the game. Tech extended the advantage to four, pulling away for a 25-21 win behind an eye-popping .467 attack percentage and 16 kills.
Rounding out things in the fourth, Tech took advantage of 11 miscues by the Panthers on the attack, needing just 12 kills of its own to put the match away. The Golden Eagles once again rolled to the win, collecting as high as a nine-point lead on the way to a 25-19 victory.
Setter Ashley Hand was a distribution machine all night, racking up 50 assists in the four-set affair for an average of 12.50 per game. She added a pair of blocks, a pair of kills, and six digs to the mix. Libero McKenna Young made it 18-straight matches with double-digit digs, posting a match-high 17 with a trio of aces.
Middle blocker Taylor Dorsey was a beast both ways for the purple and gold, tying for the team-high with 14 kills on a .542 hitting percentage. She also totaled a match-best eight total blocks, contributing seven assists and a solo rejection. Fellow middle Skylar Boom fired nine kills to the other side with a .421 attack percentage and totaled three blocks.
Also tying for the team lead with 14 terminations was Madeline Furtado, who added two blocks to the effort. Right side Morgan Gish registered six blocks assists while outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen delivered her eighth double-double of the year and fifth in the last six matches. The returning freshman produced 12 kills and 11 digs.