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The 2022 OVC Volleyball Championship will be held at the site of No. 1 UT Martin. This year marks the 42nd OVC Volleyball Championship, as the first event was held in 1981.
The event features four matches on Thursday, two matches on Friday and the Championship Match on Saturday night. Admission is $5 per day and free for students with ID. The event will be streamed on ESPN+.
Match 1: #6 Tennessee State 3, #3 Morehead State 2 (26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 15-9)
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Match 2: #7 Lindenwood 3, #2 Tennessee Tech 0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-11)
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Match 3: #5 Southeast Missouri 3, #4 Eastern Illinois 2 (25-23, 27-25, 17-25, 26-28, 15-9)
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Match 4: #1 UT Martin 3, #8 SIUE 1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-14)
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#6 TENNESSEE STATE 3, #3 MOREHEAD STATE 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - Gabrielle Johnson notched 11 kills with a .5 attack percentage to help lead the Tennessee State volleyball team to a five-set victory (26-24, 25-23, 23-25, 24-26, 15-9) against the Morehead State Eagles Thursday at Skyhawk Fieldhouse in round one of the OVC Volleyball Championship Tournament.
The victory improved Tennessee State's overall record to 17-15 on the season and moves them to the second round of the event.
The Tigers were led by a double-double from Kennedy Davis, who registered 11 kills and 11 blocks on the day. Johanna Alcantara also added 19 kills to help the attack. On the defensive end, Gina Rivera-Ortiz chipped in for with 25 digs to go with nine blocks from Aleksandra Rojecka.
Tennessee State attackers were helped by a team-high 46 assists from Sofia Garcia-Guerrios.
#7 LINDENWOOD 3, #2 TENNESSEE TECH 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team downed Tennessee Tech in a huge upset win in three sets on Thursday afternoon in the first round of the OVC Tournament.
The Lions were absolutely dominant right out of the gate, running up the score quickly on the Golden Eagles in the first set. However, Lindenwood had a 24-15 lead and Tennessee Tech was able to close things up in an unexpected eight-point run, forcing the score to read 24-23. The Lions still plunged the dagger, however, taking the first set on a big kill from Nyah Wilson that secured the 25-23 victory.
That would be the closest that the Golden Eagles would get to defeating the Lions all day, however, because the second set went to Lindenwood in a swift 25-19 victory. As a team, the Lions hit .281 in the second set, with Mackenzi Sifuentes leading the way by recording four kills on six attempts, hitting a very strong .667 individually. The middle blocker would end the day with 10 total kills on 14 attempts, generating an impressive .643 hitting percentage overall.
Lindenwood blew past Tennessee Tech in the third set, with Wilson making things exciting with her long serving run right in the middle of the set. The sophomore outside hitter kicked things off by knocking down back-to-back aces, then proceeded to serve five more times before the Golden Eagles could get the ball back. The Lions led 17-6 at that point, and it was smooth sailing all the way to the end.
The Lions were absolutely dominant on the attack during the third set, hitting .500 as a team on 24 total attempts. At the conclusion of the match, the team hitting percentage for the day was .330 as opposed to Tennessee Tech's .129.
Team-leading performances came from Sifuentes and Wilson, who each tallied 10 kills a piece. Abby VanBuskirk recorded 31 total assists and also knocked down the most service aces on the day with four total. Jessie Seidel had the highest number of digs with 12 total, and Rebecca Janke led the way in the blocks column with three total.
#5 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, #4 EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
MARTIN, Tenn. - No. 5-seeded Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (16-15) overcame #4 Eastern Illinois (16-16) in five sets (25-23, 27-25, 17-25, 26-28, 15-9) Thursday afternoon at Skyhawk Fieldhouse to clinch a spot in Friday's 2022 Ohio Valley Conference Championship Semifinals.
Three Redhawks finished with double-digits attacking including a double-double of 15 kills and 12 blocks (career high) from graduate student Colby Greene.
Greene, a rightside hitter from North Liberty, Iowa, tallied her first career double-double, hitting at a .419 rate. SEMO finished Thursday with a season-best 21 blocks.
Kayla Closset led the Redhawks with a personal-best 18 kills, eight digs and four service aces (career-best matching) on a .342 rate. Zoey Beasley, a 2022 All-OVC First Team performer, chipped in 18 kills on a .364 with five blocks, three assists and three digs.
Izzy Lukens registered a career-best 51 assists to go with 11 digs, two kills and two blocks as SEMO hit a .293 over the Quarterfinal matchup.
The Redhawks took the opening two sets Thursday before Eastern Illinois stormed back in the third and fourth frames to knot the match at 2-2. SEMO hit an impressive match-best .471 in the fifth period to secure the win and advance to the Semifinals. The Redhawks jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth set and increased the advantage to 8-2 off a kill from Ramiri Gardner. Closset added a pair of rally stoppers to make the margin 10-4. The Panthers came as close as 11-8 before SEMO wrapped the match on a 4-1 run (15-9). Beasley notched a winner, followed by a block assist with Gardner before a kill by Greene secured the win.
Mackenzie Meehan finished Thursday with a career-best 10 blocks, seven kills, and a dig. Gardner added a personal-best 11 blocks, five kills and two digs. Tara Beilsmith, the 2022 OVC Defensive Player of the Year, grabbed 19 digs with seven assists. Addy McAleer had seven digs while Jenny Shook tallied six.
Giovana Larregui Lopez, the 2022 OVC Player of the Year, had 20 kills, five aces, three blocks and six digs. Four Panthers finished in double-digits kill-wise. Catalina Rochaix posted 33 assists while 2022 All-OVC Players Kaitlyn Flynn and Christina Martinez Mundo each had 14 digs.
Beilsmith has now surpassed 700 digs (714) in 2022 to increase her career total to 2,178 which ranks second all-time in SEMO program history behind Molly Davis (2,223 digs from 2006-09).
#1 UT MARTIN 3, #8 SIUE 1
MARTIN, Tenn. -UT Martin defeated SIUE in four sets (21-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-14) to advance to the semifinals of the OVC Championship for the first time since 2011.
Karen Scanlon led the Skyhawks with 16 kills on a .295 hitting percentage. She added 20 digs and four aces in the win. Logan Wallick had 13 kills while Kambree Lucas added 12 kills and 13 digs. Dylad Mott recorded 14 digs while Addy Vaughn dished out a team-best 22 assists.
SIUE's Ainsley Ranstead paced the Cougars with 10 kills while Sydnet Hummar nearly had a double-double with nine kills and 25 digs. Alyse Drifka notched a double-double with 16 assists and 11 digs while Caroline Waite had a team-best 21 assists.
UT Martin will play Southeast Missouri in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. CT.