Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (9-10, 6-1 OVC) completed the weekend sweep of Morehead State (8-11, 4-4 OVC) on Saturday afternoon in a five set thriller inside the Johnson Arena. 

The match went back and forth all game, having 17 lead changes but SEMO won their fifth straight match against Morehead State.

Abby Johnson finished for a team high 18 kills from  47 total attacks (.277) The graduate also helped out on defense recording two blocks. 

Lucy Arndt and Ramiri Gardner also chipped in on offense generating 14 and 12 kills. Gardner,  the OVC leader in hitting percentage, notched a clip of .308 while also sending back four total attacks.

The Redhawks posted ten blocks , 65 assists, 89 digs, and 66 kills for a clip of .243.

SEMO started off how they finished last night beginning with an ace from Megan Holder. A challenge by SEMO for a net touch changed the momentum of the set with SEMO winning 7-6. 

After a kill in the front of the ten foot line by Abby Johnson SEMO doubled MSU 14-7 forcing the Eagles to call their second timeout a few plays later at 16-7.

MSU came back with a couple blocks and kills but two solo blocks from Gardner and Arndt put an end to the run. SEMO finished the set winning 25-14 with 15 kills for a .517 kill percentage.

Set two was close at the beginning with no team coming ahead by more than two points. At the media the Eagles led 15-14.

After the timeout the game remained close. An ace by Nina Schuberth put SEMO up 21-17 for their sixth ace of the game, but the Eagles sent back two to come within one at 21-20. The Redhawks finally put the set on ice, winning set two 25-23.

Set three and four were both close like the set before. At both media timeouts SEMO led 15-14 but the Eagles fought back, winning both sets 25-23.

Morehead State would jump out to an early lead in the fifth, even being up by five at 9-4. The Redhawk defense proved to be too much for the eagles as they ended on a four point run to win 16-14.
 
Holder led the Redhawks in assists recording 28 while graduate setter Kennedey Johnson dished out 20 assists and 12 digs for the double double. Schuberth also recorded a double double by chalking up 39 digs and 14 assists.

LITTLE ROCK 3, TENNESSEE STATE 2
NASHVILLE - For the second straight day, Little Rock found a way to stare defeat in the face and escape victorious. Yesterday, the Trojans battled back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Tennessee State in five sets. Today, Little Rock came back from a 2-0 hole to complete the reverse sweep of the host Tigers and complete a series sweep in a true "all hands" effort.
 
The Trojans (12-10 overall, 7-2 OVC) have now won four straight games and will be on the road next weekend when they head east again to face Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tenn. Like Friday's win, Little Rock got solid contributions from its starting lineup. But for an added boost Saturday, several players off the bench added critical performances.
 
Crismeyli Rodriguez hammered a career-high 16 kills behind .433 attacking to lead the offense, Jaycee Kennedy tied her previous career-high with eight blocks to go with five kills, and Polianna Hernandez returned from injury to add seven kills and five digs. Little Rock swung for a season-high 69 kills as a team, hitting .228 in the contest with Rodriguez, Kennedy (.273) and Jeila Fullerton (.267) all exceeding the .250 mark. Kaylee Smith led the Trojans with a career-high of her own, putting up 30 assists.
 
Tennessee State (5-16, 1-7) was unable to climb out of last place in the OVC standings despite opening with wins of 29-27 and 25-22 in the first two sets. Little Rock – still in third place behind SEMO (6-1) and Lindenwood (8-1) – responded with a 25-17 win in the third set, then hit .419 in a 25-16 fourth set victory, before closing out the match 15-13 in the fifth.
 
Fullerton (16 kills, 14 digs), Smith (13 digs) Dariana Valencia (27 assists, 11 digs), and Bella Cherry (11 kills, 10 digs) all posted double-doubles. Andrea Roman tallied a team-high 26 digs with seven assists and three aces, A'lanae Margaritha totaled six kills, three blocks and three aces while Fullerton (6) and Cherry (4) also contributed with blocks.
 
Little Rock's four-game conference win streak equals its longest since joining the OVC in 2022. The Trojans ended the 2023 regular season with four straight conference wins to qualify for the eighth and final spot in the OVC tournament.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Western Illinois Volleyball completed the sweep over Southern Indiana with another three set win this afternoon at Screaming Eagles Arena. The Leathernecks are now in fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a conference record of 6-3. 


Keyana Cruse finished the match with a match-high 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .308. Julianna Schmidt also had a solid performance for WIU, finishing the match with 7 kills on 10 attempts. 

Maggie Craker had 37 assists and Karli Wenzel led WIU in digs for the second straight match finishing with 13 digs. Wenzel finished the weekend with 49 digs with an average of just over 8 digs per set. 

In set one, Keyana Cruse and Julianna Schmidt would combine for eight of the Leathernecks 15 kills in the set to lead the way offensively. Cruse would have two of the first three kills to open the set giving WIU an early 3-1 lead. The two sides would exchange the next 12 points with the Leathernecks holding on to a 9-7 lead. The Screaming Eagles would then go on a 9-2 run taking the set lead at 14-10. Back-to-back kills by Julianna Schmidt and Brittany Wulf later in the set would bring WIU to within two points at 16-14. An 11-7 run for the Leathernecks to end the set would give them the 25-23 set win. Grace Nichols would have two huge kills during the run to seal the victory in set number one. 

In set two, Southern Indiana and Western Illinois would go back-and-forth early, but a 6-2 run by the Screaming Eagles would put them up 7-4. Just like in set one, the Leathernecks would go on a big 9-2 run to take the set lead at 13-9. During the run, Brittany Wulf had back-to-back kills to give WIU the lead in the second set, and Keyana Cruse would have two kills and a solo block to extend the lead at 13-9. Wulf would again have back-to-back kills later in the set putting the Leathernecks up four by a score of 17-13. Grace Nichols and Elizabeth Ziegler would have a big block late in the set to give WIU the set two victory by a score of 25-21. 

Just like the night prior, set three would be controlled by the Leathernecks for most of the set as they would jump out to a 6-1 lead to start the third set thanks to kills from Keyana Cruse, Grace Nichols, and Elizabeth Ziegler. The Screaming Eagles would tie the set at 9 after an extended 8-3 run by Southern Indiana, but that would be the closest USI would get as WIU would go on a 9-3 run to take control of the set at 18-12. During the Leatherneck run, the Leatherneck defense would have 2 total blocks, with two block assists coming from Julianna Schmidt. Schmidt would add a kill and Brittany Wulf would have a service ace to extend the Leatherneck lead. WIU would end the set on a 5-1 run giving them the set three victory over Southern Indiana by a score of 25-18. The Leathernecks have now swept three opponents in conference play with sweeps over Eastern Illinois, SIUE, and Southern Indiana.

LINDENWOOD 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (14-7, 8-1 OVC) continued their win streak with a 3-1 win over the Skyhawks of UT Martin (3-13, 1-6 OVC) in Martin, Tenn. The Lions have won five straight in Ohio Valley Conference play and have won nine matches over their last 10 played.

Nyah Wilson had her best game of the season with 24 kills while hitting .449 on 49 attacks. Her 24 kills not only set a career-high but it tied a Lindenwood NCAA Division I record for kills in a match. Wilson also had 10 digs for her eighth double-double of the season.

Freshman right-side Autumn Bax also had 12 kills for her 11th double digit kills match in 2024. Faith Atkins in her first career start had a new-career high six kills while hitting .278. Ashley Geluck also had six kills and three blocks for the Lions in the win.

Three Lions on defense had double-digit digs including libero Jessie Seidel who was second on the team with 16. Setter Allie Otten led the team in digs with 17 and added 40 assists for her 14th double-double. For the match, Lindenwood hit .250 with 58 kills.
Lindenwood came out in the first set and collected the opening frame winning 25-20. UT Martin came as close as 20-18 before LU closed out the set on a 5-1 run. Geluck made an impact on both sides of the night with three kills and two blocks. Wilson also had a set-high five kills while hitting .333.

The second set produced the same score as the first as Lindenwood posted a 25-20 set victory. Lindenwood's offense hit .200 for the set with 11 kills while also capitalizing on UTM's 10 attack errors. Wilson led the way with another four kills and Otten added 10 of the 11 Lindenwood assists.

After a close third set loss (24-26), Lindenwood responded in the fourth jumping out to a 15-8 lead before a media timeout was called. Wilson combined for 15 kills during the final two sets including 11 in the third. Lindenwood continues their win streak to five matches.

TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 0
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Returning to form with an electric, offensive attack, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team made quick work of its rematch at Eastern Illinois Saturday afternoon, picking up a 3-0 win to head back to Cookeville with a 1-1 split on the weekend.

The Golden Eagles (16-4, 5-3) piled up 45 kills while hitting .266 on the attack, dialing up more terminations over three sets than in Friday's four-set loss. On the other side of the net, Eastern Illinois (6-13, 2-7) struggled to find any consistency with its own attack, totaling just 25 strikes with 22 attack errors.

While the purple and gold held control of the match the majority of the day, the effort did require an early comeback in the opening set. The Panthers jumped in front right out of the gate, taking a 4-0 lead an pushing it out to five points at 9-4.

Tech answered right back, dropping a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the day. It was a battle from that point up to a 19-19 draw, and then the Cookeville crew took over. Using a 6-1 run down the road, the Golden Eagles took the opener, 25-20, behind 15 kills and a .267 attack.

In set two, Tech took its turn with the early lead before the Panthers squared things at 5-5. The Golden Eagles replied with a 7-0 run and never looked back, racing to a 25-16 victory and 2-0 lead in the match. Another 14 terminations with just five errors proved plenty enough to get the job done when paired with EIU's 10 attack errors.

Another early fight quickly faded into Tech's favor in the third and final set, as the Golden Eagles broke a 6-6 stalemate with four straight points. The Panthers would get no closer than three points the remainder of the set, with the Cookeville crew pulling away for a 25-18 win behind 16 more kills and a .286 hitting percentage.

Senior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhasuen set the tone for the day with a match-high 15 kills and .294 efficiency, adding five digs and an ace for good measure. She also registered a game-high 16.5 points.

Joining her in the double-digit kills club, fellow outside Alayna Pierce racked up 11 strikes of her own. The freshman chipped in seven digs and an ace of her own as well. Junior setter Jordan Karlen was a dishing machine in the match, doling out 35 assists to go along with four kills and nine digs.

Senior libero McKenna Young led the match with 15 digs while contributing a pair of assists as well. The veteran moved into third on Tech's career charts for sets played, passing Bonnie Zoss (1989-92) with 477 sets competed in her Golden Eagle tenure.

Rookie middle blocker Mallory Jenkins tacked on seven kills to go along with three blocks. Senior outside Bella Powell tied her for the team lead with three rejections of her own and added four kills to the mix. Senior middle Elena Wallace tallied four strikes and two blocks.