Ohio Valley Conference

TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 1
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. - There were celebrations all around for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Saturday afternoon, as the Golden Eagles delivered a 3-1 victory over Ohio Valley Conference foe SIUE on Senior Day in the Hooper Eblen Center.

With the victory, the Golden Eagles (19-7, 8-6) officially clinched a berth into the OVC Tournament, the team's fifth bid to the league's postseason event under the direction of head coach Jeannette Phillips and fourth in a row. Phillips' 98th win as Tech's leader also represented win number 19 on the year for Tech, its most since the 2008 squad finished 19-13 and won both the Ohio Valley Conference regular-season and tournament titles.

All eight senior members of the Tech squad saw the court on the day prior to the program's senior recognition following the match, with one, in particular, turning in a performance for the ages. Outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen led the group of Golden Eagle veterans with a career-high 28 kills, smashing .436 to help pave the way to victory.

The Edwardsville, Ill. native also tacked on an assist, two service aces, a season-high five total blocks, and eight digs. Her second scoop of the night was a big one, marking the 1,000th of her Tech career and making her just the 11th member of the program's Double Grand Club (players who boast 1,000 of two separate statistical categories).

Isringhausen's 28 terminations tied for the second most in a four-set match in the rally-scoring era in program history. The performance also launched the senior into the top 15 for career kills in the OVC, ranking 13th overall in the history of the league.

Joining Isringhausen in the effort to down the Cougars, junior setter Jordan Karlen piled up 40 assists and 14 digs, completing her 15th double-double of the year. Freshman middle blocker Mallory Jenkins tallied nine kills and a season-best six total rejections. Fellow rookie Alayna Pierce dropped in seven terminations to go with 12 digs.

Senior libero McKenna Young drove ever closer to her own career milestone, scooping up 22 digs to pull her within 18 of becoming just the second Golden Eagle in program history to reach 2,000. Senior middle blockers Emma Pabon and Elena Wallace tallied six blocks and three kills between the two of them.

Defensive specialist Aleeya Jones turned in eight digs on her Senior Day, mixing in an assist and two aces for good measure. Senior outsides Brooke Amann and Bella Powell each made timely contributions on the day as well. Amann recorded two blocks, three digs, and a kill while Powell tacked on three kills and two digs. Rounding out the senior group, setter Jazmine Yamilkoski saw the floor for the second tie on the year, making four set attempts down the stretch.

It was smooth sailing for the Golden Eagles in the opening set, using 17 kills and a .297 attack to cruise to a 25-16 win. The Cougars bounced back in set two, however, using a 5-0 run to build just enough of a lead and hold on in the end for a 25-23 victory. SIUE used five blocks and nine attack errors from the purple and gold to get the edge.

Tech answered in set three, staving off a comeback bid by the Cougars for a 25-21 victory. It was never close in set four, as the Golden Eagles led wire-to-wire and sailed into the sunset with a 25-14 romp right into Senior Day festivities.

For the day, the purple and gold racked up 58 kills on a .242 hitting percentage, 12.0 total blocks, 71 digs, and six service aces.

TENNESSEE STATE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 0
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - The Tennessee State volleyball team racked up 13 blocks en route to a 3-0 win (30-28, 25-23, 25-20) against the Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles Saturday afternoon. 

The conference victory improved Tennessee State's record to 8-19 overall and 4-10 in OVC play.

Jayla Holcombe finished with 14 kills on the day to lead the Lady Tigers attack while finishing with a hitting percentage of .414. got 29 digs from Hadley Pride along with seven blocks from Storm White and six rejections from Maygan Miller-Garcia to lead them defensively.

The Lady Tigers survived a back-and-forth first set to win 30-28 in a stanza that featured 12 lead changes and was tied 22 times. Neither team led by more than four points in the match. The Lady Tigers opening set win came in a stanza where 17 of their 30 points came via the kill.

Tennessee State built on a set-one win by securing a 25-23 victory in set two. The Lady Tigers took the lead for good at 24-23after coming back from a five-point deficit, the Screaming Eagles largest lead of the set. This came in a set that featured 12 ties and six lead changes.

Tennessee State then sealed the sweep with a victory in set number three. The Lady Tigers led from the opening point on in the set to secure a 25-20 victory. Tennessee State opened up as much as a nine point lead at 13-4 before closing out the set. Tennessee State's front row had a standout defensive performance, blocking eight Southern Indiana attacks in the stanza and capitalizing on 10 Southern Indiana attacking errors on the way to victory.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, UT MARTIN 1
MARTIN, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (15-11, 12-2 OVC) completed the sweep of UT Martin (5-18, 3-11 OVC) on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 3-1 from Skyhawk Fieldhouse. 
 
The Redhawks finished with three different hitters in double figures, led by rightside hitter Abby Johnson who had 20 kills in the match. Johnson totaled 41 attacks (five errors) for a .366 hitting-percentage. 
 
Lucy Arndt and Marin Johnson finished with 12 and 10 kills, respectively, as the Redhawks finished with 58 kills on the afternoon and a team hitting percentage of .288. 
 
The Redhawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-16 set one victory as the Redhawks and Skyhawks went back-and-forth after being tied at 9-9.
 
SEMO went on a 4-0 run capped off by a Lucy Arndt kill to make it 13-9, forcing UTM into a timeout. SEMO led by as many as nine (19-10) two different times (23-14) and took the opening frame, 25-16. 
 
Martin would respond, winning the final three-of-six points to close out the second set with a 25-23 victory. After two sets, SEMO and UTM were tied 1-1. 
 
The Redhawks narrowly escaped the third set with a 25-22 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match. 
 
After an Abby Johnson kill, the Redhawks led 15-14 at the third set media break. Three straight points out of the break forced UTM into a timeout at 17-14. 
 
A Ramiri Garnder kill put the Redhawks on set point at 24-21, before an attack error on UTM's Kylie Surratt gave the Redhawks a 25-22 victory in set three. 
 
SEMO hit .326 in the fourth and final frame to take the final set, 26-24, to win their 12th match in OVC play. 
 
Freshman Megan Holder dished out a team-best 31 assists as the Redhawks hit .288 as a team. Kennedey Johnson, who rotated in with Holder, dished out 15 assists of her own as the Redhawks totaled 55 assists on the afternoon.

LITTLE ROCK 3, EASTERN ILLINOIS 2
CHARLESTON, Ill. - After falling just short of accomplishing a reverse sweep over Eastern Illinois on Friday night, Little Rock (16-13 overall, 11-5 OVC) held nothing back Saturday in a straight-set sweep of the Panthers, notching its first win over EIU in program history while heading into the bye week in position to secure one of the top seeds at the OVC Championship later this month.
 
Little Rock hit .250 for the match, including .357 in a dominant opening set (25-11) that set the tone for the remainder of the match. Jeila Fullerton (14 kills) and Kaila Harris (13) led the attack while each hit at least .300 and finished with a double-double. Fullerton added 11 digs and Harris totaled 10. A'lanae Margaritha boosted the offense with a .429 hitting performance, Bella Cherry finished with seven kills and Crismeyli Rodriguez added five.
 
Despite two close sets in the second and third (25-22, 25-23), the match featured just seven ties and only two lead changes. EIU hit just .018 in the contest with almost as many hitting errors (28) as kills (30). Jaycee Kennedy (7 blocks) made a difference at the net for Little Rock, defensively.
 
Dariana Valencia led the Trojans with 21 assists, Kaylee Smith set up 16 of her own, and both Fullerton and Cherry had three blocks.