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The 2023 OVC Volleyball Championships continues with two semifinal matches on Tuesday.
This year's event is being held on the campus of Eastern Illinois University, who is hosting for the first time since 2005. The Panthers won the OVC regular season championship, finishing OVC play with a 15-3 record.
Fans can watch the entire 2023 OVC Volleyball Championship on ESPN+.
#1 Eastern Illinois 3, #5 Southern Indiana 0
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#2 Southeast Missouri 3, #3 Lindenwood 2
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#1 EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, #5 SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (27-4, 15-3 OVC) advanced to the OVC Tournament Finals with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-14, 26-24) sweep of Southern Indiana (15-16, 10-8 OVC) on Tuesday afternoon in Groniger Arena. It will be the Panthers' first time in the championship match since the 2004 season.
EIU won the first set behind a shared offensive effort, with Catalina Rochaix spreading out 16 assists to five different attackers. Kate Dean led the way with five kills on a .500 hitting percentage. Following were Giovana Larregui López and Kaitlyn Flynn with four kills, and Natalie Mitchem with three.
Eastern kept things rolling in the second set, and besides a very early 0-1 deficit, led for the entire frame, using a 12-2 run to put the Screaming Eagles away early. Defense was the name of the game, as the Panthers held USI to a negative attack percentage and combined for 5.0 team blocks in the set.
The third set was a battle, as EIU had to overcome a USI team fighting to keep their season alive. Things were tied up at 24 late, but Giovana Larregui López and Natalie Mitchem came through with back-to-back kills to seal the deal and punch the Panthers' ticket to the title match. Both players had their biggest sets of the day, with Larregui López tallying seven kills and Mitchem smashing five of her own.
Giovana Larregui López picked up another double-double with 14 digs (14.67 DPS) to go along with a match-leading 12 kills (4.0 KPS) on the afternoon. She also added a pair of service aces to her performance.
Kate Dean also had a big day for the Panthers, as she recorded 10 kills and five blocks (1.67 BPS).
Other key offensive contributors were Kaitlyn Flynn with 10 kills and two blocks, and Natalie Mitchem with nine kills and four blocks.
Catalina Rochaix matched her quarterfinal performance with another 40 assist outing (13.33 APS).
Christina Martinez Mundo again led the defense with a match-high 17 (5.67 DPS), while Emily Wilcox recorded three blocks, making it her third consecutive match with at least three rejections.
#2 SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, #3 LINDENWOOD 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (22-9, 12-6 OVC) advanced to the 2023 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship match with another five-set victory over #3 Lindenwood (16-14, 11-7 OVC) on Tuesday night at Lantz Arena.
The Redhawks won the match 16-25, 25-16, 21-25, 25-23, & 15-13 after winning the quarterfinal match in five sets the night before.
Graduate student Tara Beilsmith finished with 36 digs on the evening, moving her career digs to 3,014. She now ranks third all-time in NCAA Volleyball history for career digs.
Winning 13-11 in the fifth and decisive set, setter Izzy Lukens had an unbelievable skip-set attack to put the Redhawks on match point. Lukens caught the Lions' defense sleeping as she dropped the ball just over the net.
The Lions would score the next point to make it 14-12. After a back-and-forth exchange, it appeared that SEMO had won the game on a LU error. Upon review, the Lions were awarded the point to make it 14-13.
The Redhawks would secure the victory on the next point with a massive block by Talia Gouard and Lukens on LU's Addy McAleer sealed the deal and put SEMO in its fourth championship game in the last five years.
SEMO was led offensively by freshman outside hitter Lucy Arndt who finished with her second double-double of the tournament. Arndt registered 18 kills on 62 total attacks (eight errors) for a .161 hitting-percentage. She recorded 14 digs and finished with 24.0 points in the match.
Izzy Lukens dished out 43 assists and led SEMO to a .217 hitting-percentage as a team as six different Redhawks recorded kills on Tuesday night.
SEMO got a big spark off the bench from redshirt sophomore Avery Torrey. Torrey finished with seven kills on 17 total attacks (two errors) for a .294 hitting mark. She also recorded five block assists on the night.
The Redhawks recorded 12 team blocks, including the game-winner, in Tuesday's match led by middle blocker Talia Gouard. The Houston, Texas-native recorded nine block assists and chipped in six kills on 15 attempts as well. Gouard finished with 10.5 points.
Senior middle blocker Marisa Guisti finished with double-digit kills as the Peru, Ill.-native had 13 in the match. She also served up two aces plus a solo block and a block assist in the win.
The match featured 14 lead changes and 26 different times the score was tied in the match as the Redhawks outlasted another opponent in five sets and beat Lindenwood for the first time in 2023.