FRIDAY'S SCORES
@Morehead State 3, Tennessee State 2 (18-25, 25-20, 19-25, 25-9, 15-10)
Eastern Illinois 3, @Southeast Missouri 0 (25-23, 25-19, 26-24)
@SIUE 3, Little Rock 1 (18-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-18)
@UT Martin 3, Southern Indiana 1 (25-15, 25-21, 24-26, 25-18)
Tennessee Tech 3, Lindenwood 2 (15-25, 15-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-11)
MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
MOREHEAD, Ky. - The Morehead State volleyball team displayed notable resolve in a 3-2 win over the Tennessee State Tigers Friday at home at Johnson Arena, rallying from a 2-1 deficit in a match that went back and forth all five sets.
The conference win improved Morehead State's record to 8-9 overall and 4-2 in OVC play. TSU slipped to 8-12 and 2-5 in the OVC. MSU is now 36-3 all-time versus the Tigers in matches played in Morehead.
Morehead State had three players in double figures in kills, including Abby Hulsman who had a match-high 16.
Maycie Welborn and Sydney Wyman charged up the offense with 14 successful kills each.
Morehead State had three players in double figures in digs, including a team-high 16 by setter Bridget Bessler. It marked her second straight match leading the team in digs.
Shea Hefner had a match-high two aces in the win.
Morehead State attackers were helped by a match-high 50 assists from Bridget Bessler, who had her second straight double-double. She has 3,491 career assists now.
After making 13 errors and hitting -.023 in the third set, MSU's attack hit .523 in the fourth and combined for 25 kills and just five errors in the final two sets.
Peighton Isley (13) and Andrea Grimes (11), MSU's other two back row defenders, had double-digit digs as well.
TSU front row blocker Gabrielle Johnson has 13 block assists and three solo blocks, coming up one short of the OVC record for single-match block assists (set in 1996).
SET 1 | The Eagles found themselves in an early hole, dropping a tough first set 25-18. Morehead State trailed by as many as eight points as Tennessee State grabbed the advantage for good at 3-2 in a set that was tied up four times before the Tigers took control.
SET 2 | Morehead State tied the match at 1-1 following a 25-20 set-two win. The Eagles never trailed by more than five points and grabbed the advantage for good at 16-15 in a set that showcased two lead changes before the Eagles took over in the second half of the stanza.
SET 3 | Tennessee State took a 2-1 match lead after defeating the Eagles in the third set. The Eagles lost the first point and fought from behind the rest of the way before losing the set 25-19.
SET 4 | Morehead State then responded to win set four 25-9 to force a fifth set. The Eagles took a 1-0 lead and never looked back in the set to secure the victory. Morehead State finished up the stanza on a strong note, claiming its biggest lead, 16 points, to close out the set, totaling 16 kills while only committing one attack error in the set.
SET 5 | Down two sets to one, Morehead State fought back to win sets four and five, culminating in a 15-10 fifth-set victory, to take the match 3-2. The Eagles took the lead for good at 11-10 in a set that showcased two lead changes before the Eagles took over the lead.
EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Eastern Illinois (11-8, 5-1 OVC) volleyball takes the first match of a weekend series against defending Ohio Valley Conference champions Southeast Missouri (8-9, 3-2 OVC) by a final of 3-0. This win breaks a 10-game win streak for the Redhawks against the Panthers. The set scores were: 25-23, 25-19, 26-24.
EIU collected their 11th win of the season Friday evening which ties their win total from last season. The Panthers have not swept SEMO since October 6, 2017 and also marks their last victory against the Redhawks. The last time EIU had at least five conference victories was in 2018.
Giovana Larregui Lopez led all attackers in the match with 15 kills on 41 attempts for a hitting percentage of .244 (third on the team). Larregui Lopez collected at least four kills in each set including seven in the final set to help EIU get the victory. She also recorded 12 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.
The Panthers' offense had at five players record at least five kills in the match. Kaitlyn Flynn recorded 10 kills against SEMO for her seventh straight double-digit kill match of the season. She also had 14 digs for her third double-double.
Emily Wilcox was efficient at the net with a season high nine kills and a team leading hitting percentage of .643 on 14 attempts. Ireland Hieb also contributed seven kills while both had three block assists. Annika Black also had four total blocks in the win.
The setting duo of Catalina Rochaix and Summerlyn Smith had another strong performance with Rochaix collecting 22 assists while Smith had 19. EIU had a .297 hitting percentage throughout the match while the Redhawks were held to just a .170. Both setters also had eight digs.
Christina Martinez Mundo had a team high 16 digs to help EIU keep SEMO off the board. Martinez Mundo helped lead EIU to a 66-60 advantage in digs. There was nine total lead changes in the match including 16 ties in the first set alone.
The Redhawks were led by Kaelyn O'Brien and Kayla Closset with 12 and 10 kills each. Libero Tara Beilsmith had 28 digs to lead all players. Izzy Lukens was their leading setter with 17 assists. SEMO drops to 8-9 on the season.
SIUE 3, LITTLE ROCK 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - Recap coming soon.
UT MARTIN 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Recap coming soon.
TENNESSEE TECH 3, LINDENWOOD 2
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -Recap coming soon.