Ohio Valley Conference

MACOMB, Ill. - On a day where the Leatherneck volleyball team needed a win to stay in the top four of the OVC standings, it would take all five sets for WIU to get the job done. 

Honoring the seniors for their final home game at Western Hall, the senior class stepped up in a big way combining for 52 kills and 58 assists. Keyana Cruse and Brittany Wulf would each have 18 kills with Grace Nichols adding 7 kills, hitting .588 to lead the team. Maggie Craker would have 50 assists with Karli Wenzel having seven and Charity Dundas adding one assist.

WIU came out of the gates hot going up 12-6 in set one. After a 4-0 run by Morehead State to cut the Leatherneck lead to 16-14, Grace Nichols would get a kill and Brittany Wulf would get a block to end the Eagle run. WIU would close out the first set on a 3-0 run with kills from Keyana Cruse and Grace Ulatowski as they would take set one by a score of 25-19. 

The momentum would carry over into set two for the Leathernecks as they would jump out to an 18-8 lead to start. Morehead State responded with an 8-2 run of their own to make the set 20-16 in favor of WIU. Keyana Cruse and Grace Nichols would team up for a block on the next point to end the Eagle run putting WIU up 21-16 late in the set. The two teams would trade the next several points before an Elizabeth Ziegler kill would put the Leathernecks one point away from taking set two. Morehead State would get a kill delaying the set two victory, but Brittany Wulf would follow the Eagle point with a kill to put the Leathernecks up 2 sets to none. 

Morehead State would not go down without a fight as they would take a commanding 19-9 lead to start set three. Elizabeth Ziegler would get back-to-back kills that would start an extended 10-5 run for WIU. The quick start to the set would help the Eagles take the third set by a score of 25-20. Set four was back-and-forth the entire way with the biggest lead being four. Brittany Wulf would have a kill and back-to-back service aces to give WIU the lead at 12-11 midway through the fourth set. A 6-1 run by the Eagles in the later part of the set would give Morehead State the set four victory by a score of 25-21. 

Coming into this afternoon's matchup, the Leathernecks were 0-4 in matches that went to the fifth set, three of them coming in conference play. WIU would flip the script by starting out set five on a 6-2 run with two kills from Grace Nichols and a service ace from Keyana Cruse. Morehead State would continue to fight back as they would go on a 3-0 run late in the set to make it 11-9 in favor of the Leathernecks. Keyana Cruse would get a kill on the next point to make it 12-9 and WIU would close out the fifth and final set on a 4-0 run to take the set and the match. 

With the win, the Leathernecks are now 16-11 overall with a conference record of 10-6. WIU has now officially qualified for the OVC Volleyball tournament for the second year in a row, making it to the tournament in the first two seasons as a member of the Ohio Valley Conference.

TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 0
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - A healthy dose of offense mixed with some timely defense proved plenty for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team to claim a 3-0 sweep of visiting SIUE in the Hooper Eblen Center Friday evening.

The Golden Eagles (18-7, 7-6) received big performances from the usual suspects, but picked up clutch play from everyone involved on the night. The all-around team effort provided the purple and gold with its highest, win total since the 2008 squad finished 19-13 and won both the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

Senior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen turned up a huge night on the attack, piling up 19 kills while hitting a robust .432 for the match. The Edwardsville, Ill. native tacked on four digs and three blocks as well. She now sits just two scoops from becoming the 11th member of Tech's Double Grand Club (players who boast 1,000 of two separate statistical categories).

Directing the offensive song for the night, junior setter Jordan Karlen dished out 33 assists to pair with 10 digs for her 14th double-double of the year. She added six kills on an eye-popping .750 hitting percentage, two service aces, and a solo rejection.

Five other Golden Eagles chipped in on the distribution results, making it six different Tech players recording at least one assist. Leading the small group with a team-high 11 digs to go with her three dimes was senior libero McKenna Young. She needs just 40 more scoops on the year to become just the second Golden Eagle in program history to reach 2,000 digs for their career.

Freshman middle blocker Mallory Jenkins picked up one of the assists while totaling four kills and three blocks while fellow rookie Katie Green tacked on two aces with her assist as a defensive specialist. Right side Ava Schubert tallied eight kills, two blocks, and a helper while outside hitter Brooke Amann tallied an assist and seven digs in just one set of action.

Supplying eight kills to the effort with an ace and seven digs was freshman outside hitter Alayna Pierce. Senior middle blocker Elena Wallace tallied three blocks to tie for the team lead with Jenkins and Isringhausen.

Tech was pretty consistent on the night, producing kill totals of 16, 16, and 15 across the three sets of work. The team also racked up 8.0 total blocks collectively to go with six aces and a total of 47 terminations.

The purple and gold took the opener after pulling away from the Cougars (10-14, 5-8) down the stretch, snapping an 18-18 draw with a 7-2 run for a 25-20 win. In set two, the Cookeville crew comfortably controlled the court to the tune of a 25-19 victory that never truly felt that close, boasting at least a three-point cushion or better for the majority of the game.

The third and final set was a battle throughout, once again playing to an 18-18 stalemate. At that point, the Golden Eagles took the lead for good, using a 7-3 run this time to finish the job and claim the win.

TENNESSEE STATE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Tennessee State volleyball team defeated Southern Indiana, 3-1 (27-25, 10-25, 25-17, 25-21) Friday evening.

The conference victory improved Tennessee State's record to 7-19 overall and 3-10 in OVC play.

The Tigers were led by a double-double from Celestial Miller, who registered 11 kills and 14 digs on the day. Storm White also added 11 kills to help the attack. On the defensive end, Hadley Pride chipped in for with 34 digs to go with seven blocks from White.

The  Tigers came out on top of a tight first set, winning 27-25 in a stanza that was tied six times and had two lead changes. got a solid defensive performance from a front row that blocked four Southern Indiana attacks in the stanza.

Tennessee State then lost the second set 25-10, tying the match at a set apiece. Tennessee State trailed by as many as 15 points as Southern Indiana grabbed the advantage for good at 8-7 in a set that was tied up five times before the Screaming Eagles took over the lead.

Tennessee State put the second-set loss behind and grabbed a 2-1 match lead with a victory in the third set. The Tigers took the set 25-17 powered by a strong showing on the attacking end. Tennessee State put together a .417 attack percentage with 15 kills in the set win. The Tigers ended on a strong note, stretching their lead to its largest point in the set to finish out the stanza. The Tennessee State offense also got a boost from three aces in the stanza.

Tennessee State kept the momentum going, ending the match with a 25-21 set-four victory. The Tigers took the lead for good at 12-11 in a set that had just one lead change before the Tigers took over the lead.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (14-11, 11-2 OVC) got back to its winning ways with a 3-0 victory over UT Martin (5-17, 3-10 OVC) on Friday night from Skyhawk Fieldhouse. 
 
The Redhawks won in three sets by scores of 25-17, 25-15, and 25-13 over the Skyhawks to pick up their fourth three set victory of the season. 
 
Sophomore Lucy Arndt led the way with 13 kills on 31 total attacks for a .387 hitting-percentage. Arndt was the only Redhawk in double figure kills. Abby Johnson and Marin Johnson chipped in nine and six kills, respectively, as the Redhawks hit an impressive .333 as a team. 
 
SEMO recorded 42 total kills on the night on 111 total attacks and finished with a .378 kills percentage. 
 
The Redhawks pounded UTM in the third and final set hitting an impressive .486 with 16 kills in the set. SEMO put the game on ice with a 5-0 run capped off by Arndt's 13th and final kill off the assist from Kennedey Johnson. 
 
Setters Megan Holder and Kennedey Johnson continued their ways in the assist column finishing in double figures once again. Holder dished out 18 assists while Johnson chipped in 14 for 32-of-SEMO's-40 assists. 
 
Eight different Redhawks recorded a kill in the match, including Holder who had an incredible dig that fell over the net for a SEMO point to record the kill. 
 
The Redhawks edged UTM in kills (42-32), service aces (5-2), digs (69-56), and blocks (5-3) in a match that was total domination from the Redhawks. 
 
SEMO outhit UTM by a .333 to .094 hitting-advantage.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, LITTLE ROCK 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois volleyball team (8-15, 4-9 OVC) held off Little Rock (15-13, 10-5 OVC) 3-2 to pick up another key conference victory on Friday night. The final set scores were 25-22, 25-21, 22-25, 22-25, and 15-11.

The opening set was back-and-forth throughout, with neither team gaining more than a three-point advantage. With the score knotted up at 22-22, Destiny Walker went off for three consecutive kills to close the set and give Eastern a 1-0 lead in the match. Walker led all players will nine kills in the frame while Irland Hieb posted a trio of blocks.

Set two was tight early on, but after going up 8-7, EIU never relinquished their advantage as they grew their lead to as many as six points. The Trojans tried to make a late push, but a Matilda Dahlström kill slammed the door shut on any hope of a rally and gave Eastern a 2-0 match lead. Dahlström led the Panthers with seven kills in the set as Catalina Rochaix handed out 13 assists.

With their backs against the wall, Little Rock was able to build a five-point lead late in set three. EIU scored four in-a-row to cut the deficit to just one, but the Trojans closed the set on a 3-1 run to evade the sweep and extend the match. Kaitlyn Flynn led Eastern in scoring with five kills and a solo block in the set.

The fourth set was tied up at 15-15 before a 6-2 Little Rock run put the Panthers in a hole they were unable to climb out of. Eastern cut the deficit to just a pair three times, but could not get over the hump as the Trojans evened the match at two sets apiece. Destiny Walker kept her big night going with six kills in the frame.

In the deciding set, Little Rock rode their momentum to a 6-3 lead. However, the Panthers responded by stringing together a massive 9-0 run to blow past the Trojans and take a commanding 12-6 advantage. Little Rock cut the lead in half, but came no closer as Destiny Walker put a bow on her performance with a match-point kill to give Eastern the 3-2 win.

Walker led the Eastern Illinois offense with a career-high 27 kills while adding two blocks. She also shined on the defensive end with 16 digs to finish with a double-double.

Two other Panthers posted double-digit kills, including Kaitlyn Flynn with 17 and Matilda Dahlström with 14. Both players were also forces at the net, with Dahlström collecting seven blocks and Flynn recording five rejections.

Ireland Hieb led the Panthers in blocks with a total of 11, including one solo, as Eastern combined for 16.0 total team blocks.

Catalina Rochaix also had a big night as she posted a season-high 55 assists (11.0 APS) while racking up 16 digs for a double-double.

Meanwhile, Laura Paniagua put together another impressive showing with 30 digs (6.00 DPS), which is a new career high for the senior.

Tori Mohesky also reached double-digit digs with 10 on the evening.