Ohio Valley Conference

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -  Another strong, team effort was more than enough for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to secure its fourth straight victory Thursday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles delivered a 3-0 sweep over Ohio Valley Conference foe Southern Indiana in the Hooper Eblen Center.

With the win over the visiting Screaming Eagles (8-19, 3-12), the 2024 squad became the first Golden Eagle team (20-7, 9-6) to rack up 20 wins in a season since the 1998 crew that finished 22-7. Tech head coach Jeannette Phillips earned win No. 99 for her career on the day, putting her just one away from becoming the fourth leader of the program to reach triple digits.

The offense was humming during the contest, accounting for a whopping 52 kills and seven aces across the three sets, all while smashing at a .279 clip. The efficiency was particularly impressive in the opening set, with the Cookeville crew racking up 15 kills on a .364 attack and an eye-popping .900 sideout percentage on the way to a dominant, 25-10 win.

Set two saw the purple and gold explode and out-execute the Screaming Eagles, compiling 19 terminations and a .325 hitting percentage. USI managed 15 kills in the set after supplying just five in the opener, but it wasn't enough to stop Tech from taking a 2-0 lead behind a 25-21 win.

Tech closed things out in set three, overcoming nine attack errors by landing 18 kills and pulling away late. The Golden Eagles snapped a 22-22 tie to close the day with three straight points and a 25-22 win.

Fresh off of receiving her sixth OVC Offensive Player of the Week honor and becoming the first Golden Eagle in program history to capture AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week honors, senior Madolyn Isringhausen lived up to her new, lofty expectations. The outside hitter delivered a match-high 17 kills with two service aces, seven digs, a block, and a .289 attack percentage.

The Edwardsville, Ill. native continued her climb up the OVC career charts, passing Morehead State's Missy Abbott (1993-96) for 12th on the league's all-time kills leaderboard, sporting 1,643. She also currently ranks 11th with 4,525 attempts over her five-year career.

Fellow senior McKenna Young flirted with Tech history on the night, racking up a match-high 16 digs to go along with five assists and an ace. The libero finished just two scoops shy of becoming just the second Golden Eagle in program history to reach 2,000 for a career, however, the Murfreesboro native did soar into 15th place on the OVC's career rankings for digs, passing Murray State's Kim Koehler (1987-90) with 1,998.

Young still cemented her name among the Golden Eagle record books in a different category, tying her former teammate Taylor Dorsey for the most sets played in program history with 504.

Literally setting the tone on the night for the purple and gold, junior setter Jordan Karlen dished out 41 assists with 12 digs, recording her 16th double-double of the year. The Janesville, Wis. native flirted with a triple-double for the second match in a row, delivering six kills on just eight attempts.

Joining the attack effort for the Golden Eagles, senior outside Bella Powell contributed nine kills while hitting .400 on the night, mixing in three digs and a block. Rookie outside Alayna Pierce matched the veterans total with nine terminations of her own, just missing a double-double with 11 digs.

MOREHEAD STATE 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Maycie Welborn smashed in a season-high 19 kills and hit .361, while M.E. Hargan and Brenna Bommer both compiled double-doubles as Morehead State Volleyball shook off a first-set loss to rally past visiting Eastern Illinois 3-1 at Johnson Arena.

MSU moved to 13-13 overall and 9-6 in the OVC race, while the Panthers slipped to 8-17 ad 4-11. MSU also won for just the second time in 10 matches this year when it goes to four sets.

The Panthers used a 9-1 run to close the first set with a 25-19 win. But, MSU flipped the fortunes with a 25-19 win in set two. The Eagles outlasted EIU 25-21 in the third and sealed the match emphatically with a 25-12 triumph.

MSU only led 9-7 in the fourth, but a 5-1 run set the tone. MSU also had a 9-1 run of its own later in the set. The Eagles notched 30 kills with just four total errors in the final two sets after having 10 kills but 11 attack mistakes just in the opening frame.

Welborn landed her 19 kills on 36 swings, while Hargan had 15 kills and hit .289. She completed her 18th career double-double with 11 digs. Welborn has now reached double-figures in kills in six of the last seven matches. Menawhile, Bommer handed out 22 assists and came up with 12 of the Eagles' match-best 72 digs. 

MSU had four players in double-digit digs as libero Peighton Isley had a team-best 16, and fellow defender Courtney Fitzgerald totaled 14. 

MSU's serve game also played a factor. The Eagles had nine aces, led by four each from Amelia Nott and Sydney Wyman. Wyman also added four blocks as did Irene Wogenstahl.

EIU was led by Destiny Walker with 11 kills, while she also had a double-double with 13 digs. But, the visitors were limited to only .167 hitting for the four-setter.

WESTERN ILLINOIS  3, TENNESSEE STATE 1
NASHVILLE - WIU Volleyball reached the 17 win mark for the first time in a season since 2005 with their four-set win over Tennessee State on Thursday night. The win keeps the Leathernecks in fourth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings with a conference record of 11-6. 
 
As a team, WIU totaled 52 kills and 7 service aces, led by Keyana Cruse and Grace Nichols. Cruse finished the match with a match-high 21 kills, all of which came in the last three sets. Nichols added 10 kills to go along with 4 blocks and Maggie Craker had another stellar performance finishing with a match-high 44 assists. Karli Wenzel led the way defensively with a team-high 18 digs and the Leathernecks also recorded 10 blocks, showcasing strong defense throughout the match.

In the first set, WIU took the set by a score of 25-18. Grace Nichols had three kills for WIU, followed by Elizabeth Ziegler and Brittany Wulf who had two kills each. The defense was on full display with multiple blocks coming from the Leatherneck defense in the opening set. The Leathernecks had three blocks in the set with Keyana Cruse having two of them. 

TSU responded in set two winning 25-23 after a closely contested set that saw several lead changes and ties. There were six lead changes and eight ties throughout, with the last lead change coming late in the set with the Tigers taking the lead at 24-23. 

WIU reclaimed control in the third set, winning 25-20, highlighted by solid kills from Elizabeth Ziegler and Grace Nichols. Ziegler had two kills in the set with her first kill of the set ending a 6-1 run for the Leathernecks after trailing the early part of the set 10-8. Nichols had four kills in the set, with her biggest kill of the night putting WIU up three late at 23-20. A Maggie Craker ace followed by a Keyana Cruse kill would give WIU the set three victory. 

The Leathernecks closed out the match with a tight 27-25 win in set four. With the Necks trailing 22-17 late in the set, Cruse would have five big kills to highlight a 10-3 WIU run to close out the set and win the match. WIU's serving was effective, having seven service aces compared to TSU's three.

SIUE 3, UT MARTIN 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE (11-15, 6-9 OVC) won 3-1 over UT Martin (5-19, 3-12 OVC) set scores were 26-28, 27-25, 25-22, 25-21. The first three sets were a battle for the Cougars going point for point for at each set point.
 
As a team the Cougars had 77 total points, 52 kills, eight service aces, 17 blocks, 49 assists, and 51 digs, compared to the Sky hawks 73 points, 61 kills, four service aces, eight blocks, 48 assists and 52 blocks.
 
SIUE had two players with kills in double digits. Ainsley Ranstead and Sydney Hummert had 14 kills a piece.
 
Setters Alyse Drifka and Corinna Jones both had strong performances for the Cougars, with Drifka tallying 24 assists and Jones having 19 assists.
 
Taya Nordmann had three solo blocks and two block assists, bringing her to 127 total blocks this season.
 
Kyndia Smith followed Nordmann contributing three solo blocks and one block assist against UT Martin

LINDENWOOD 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo.  Lindenwood women's volleyball (18-9, 12-3 OVC) picked up a huge win on Thursday evening defeating SEMO (15-12, 12-3 OVC) by a final score of 3-1. The Lions now move into sole possession of first place winning the tie break ahead of match two tomorrow evening.

Multiple Lions chipped in to help Lindenwood past SEMO. Four different attackers registered 10+ kills on Thursday including Rebecca Janke who had a match-high 14 kills. Janke became the second ever Lindenwood Lion during the NCAA era to record over 1,000 kills for their career. In the first set, Janke recorded her third kill to reach this milestone. She ended the night hitting .300 on 40 attempts while also leading the team in blocks with seven (four solo).

Autumn Bax went over 10 kills again for the 15th time this season recording 13 on Thursday. The right-side had 35 swings while hitting .200. Nyah Wilson also added 12 kills and 15 digs for her 11th double-double of the season. Wilson also added two solo blocks.

Ashley Geluck also had 11 kills (her most in her last 11 matches) while hitting a team high .409 on 22 attempts. Geluck was part of the middle tandem with Janke that had 25 total kills and nine blocks. Lindenwood as a team had 11.0 blocks which marked their most this season.

Graduate student Allie Otten put-up over 50 assists registering 52 on the night marking the fourth time this season (second straight match). She was also second on the team in digs with 21 for a double-double. Jessie Seidel led a team that posted 96 digs with 31 of them. She has gone over 30 digs four times in 2024.

The first set set the tone for the rest of the match as there was 10 ties and four lead changes. After being tied 19-19, Lindenwood ended the match on a 6-2 run to capture the first point. Wilson led the way with five kills and seven digs while Janke added three kills and four blocks.

Lindenwood stumbled in the second set as SEMO evened the match at 1-1 by a final score of 20-25. The Lions were held to a .059 hitting percentage in the second which was the lowest of the match. Otten assisted on all 12 kills in the second.

Coach Condon rallied his team in the third set to take a 2-1 advantage by winning 25-22. Lindenwood trailed by as many as four (18-14) in the third but the Lions stormed back to take the lead. Janke punished the middle in the set with six kills while Seidel added 10 digs.

Lindenwood clinched their most conference wins (12) in a single season during the NCAA era after winning the fourth set by a final score of 25-20. Bax ended the night with five kills while Seidel added another 10 digs.