Ohio Valley Conference

MEMPHIS - History was still in the making for the Tennessee Tech volleyball team Saturday morning, as the Golden Eagles capped off a perfect 3-0 weekend to win the Carrie Yerty Classic in Memphis with a shut-out victory over Mississippi Valley State.

For the first time in program history, the purple and gold secured a trio of 3-0 wins to open a season, cruising past the Delta Devils (0-3) in straight sets 25-21, 25-13, and 25-20. Tech (3-0) also set a program record for most consecutive set victories to start a year, locking down nine straight to stay unblemished on the young season.

The Golden Eagles withstood a late charge by Mississippi Valley State in the opening set, as the Delta Devils fought back from a six-point deficit to take a 21-20 lead. A savvy timeout by Tech head coach Jeannette Phillips saw the Cookeville crew calmly collect itself and string together five straight points for a 25-21, table-setting win.

Tech's 12 kills and four service aces were enough to withstand the Delta Devils' best offensive effort on the day, providing a runway for its own offense to take over in the second set. After trailing 6-4 early on, the purple and gold exploded for a 9-1 run to take command and never relinquish it.

Soaring to a 25-13 win in the set, the Golden Eagles smashed an unreal .714 with 16 kills and just a single attack error behind an unconscious effort from senior outside hitter Madolyn Isringhausen. The veteran was literally perfect in set two, recording six kills on six swings.

Set three saw the Tech squad open a sizable lead after running off 10 straight points. Leading by as many as 12 points, the Golden Eagles held off a late charge from the Delta Devils, who closed the gap to four. In the end, the purple and gold cleaned up the final few points for a 25-20 win.

Isringhausen capped an insane weekend on the attack with another stellar performance for the Golden Eagles, hitting an other-worldly .500 with 15 kills. She added two more aces and six digs to the mix as well.

Junior setter Jordan Karlen was efficient with the offense, racking up 33 assists while quarterbacking Tech to a .302 attack percentage for the day. Rookie middle blocker Mallory Jenkins crushed .417 with seven terminations while tallying two blocks.

Senior outside Bella Powell also contributed seven kills, hitting .294 while freshman Alayna Pierce tacked on five terminations on a .444 attack. Veteran middle Emma Pabon led the way with three blocks while senior outside Brooke Amann had a huge day at the serving line.

Amann dropped a career-high six aces on the Delta Devils on the day, the fourth-most during a three-set match during the rally-scoring era in Tech history. She also chipped in two kills, two assists, six digs, and two blocks for good measure.

During the weekend, a number of Golden Eagle veterans continued their climbs on the all-time career charts with the program. Young edged past Rachel Melchiorre (1994-97) to take third on Tech's career digs rankings, boasting 1,595 so far in her Tech tenure.

Karlen moved into 10th on the career list for assists, passing Sarah Hagovsky (1996-99) with 2,276 so far. Isringhausen climbed to ninth for career service aces, landing 115 in her time in the purple and gold to pass Maggie Stern (1999-00).

OLE MISS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
JONESBORO, Ark. - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (0-3) fell in the finale of the A-State Invitational to Mississippi (2-1) by a final score of 3-1 from First National Bank Arena. 
 
Freshman outside hitter Marin Johnson finished with a career-high nine kills in Saturday's match as the Redhawks hit just .055 as a team. 
 
Rightside hitter Abby Johnson and outside hitter Lucy Arndt finished with double-digit kills in the contest with 12 and 10, respectively. Johnson finished the match with a .205 hitting-percentage to lead the offense. 
 
Alaina Lester recorded five blocks, Johnson with four to lead the Redhawks who finished with seven blocks total. 
 
Setter Megan Holder, making her first collegiate start, dished out a season-high 19 assists in the contest. The freshman from Freeport, Ill. finished with 14 digs as well. 
 
Newcomer Abbey Richman, who has started at libero in the first three matches of the season, recorded a team-best 23 digs from the back line. The 23 digs was a season-high for Richman who recorded 21 against Saint Louis on Friday. 
 
The Redhawks battled with the Rebels in the first set, leading by as many as 24-17 late in the first frame. Ole Miss would go on a 6-0 run to cut the SEMO lead to 24-23 as the Redhawks went to Abby Johnson to slam home the kill to take the first set, 25-23. 
 
Johnson finished the first set with a team-high six kills. 
 
The second set was all Ole Miss as the Redhawks struggled to get their offense going compared to the first set. The first set, SEMO hit .162 as a team compared to just -.062 in the second. 
 
Conversely, Ole Miss hit .265 in the second frame to give them the 25-13 set win to make it tied at a set apiece. 
 
In the third set, Lucy Arndt slammed home her seventh kill of the match to make it 17-17 late in the frame. The Rebels would close on a 8-2 run to take the set, 25-19. 
 
The Redhawks struggled again to get their offense going as they registered just 10 kills, with nine errors, on 45 attacks for a .022 hitting-percentage compared to Ole Miss .139 to go into the fourth set with a 2-1 lead.
 
Ole Miss took the fourth set by a final score of 25-19 to secure the 3-1 match victory.

LITTLE ROCK 3, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 0
COMMERCE, Texas - As if Friday's doubleheader sweep wasn't sweet enough, the Little Rock Volleyball team poured a little more sugar on the weekend with a sweep of rival Central Arkansas on Saturday to finish 3-0 at the Lion Invitational, hosted by Texas A&M-Commerce.

Little Rock (3-0) snapped a four-match losing streak against the Sugar Bears and matched their best start since 2018 with a sweep of all three matches in Texas. The straight-set sweep of UCA was hardly easy, but the Trojans displayed a characteristic they sorely missed last year – the ability to close. Little Rock swept with scores of 25-20, 25-23, 25-23.
 
Jeila Fullerton posted her third double-double of the season, leading the team with both 11 kills and 10 digs to go with three blocks. Bella Cherry had nine kills and two blocks, while Kaila Harris and Sophia Garrido each had seven kills, helping Little Rock finish the contest with a .260 attacking percentage. Dariana Valencia (7 digs, 2 aces) and Kaylee Smith (4 digs) each finished with 16 assists.

Defensively, A'lanae Margaritha recorded six blocks – five in the third set – and added five kills. Andrea Roman filled the stat sheet with nine digs, six assists, and three aces. Little Rock limited UCA to just .198 hitting, forcing 20 attacking errors.

BOISE STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
TUCSON, Ariz. - The Tennessee State volleyball team lost to the Boise State Broncos in three sets (20-25, 17-25, 14-25) Saturday at McKale Center.

The non-conference loss dropped Tennessee State to 0-1 on the season.

Celestial Miller finished with 14 kills on the day to lead the Lady Tigers attack. got 16 digs from Hadley Pride to lead them defensively.

The Lady Tigers fell behind early, losing the first set 25-20. Tennessee State trailed by as many as six points as Boise State never gave up the lead in a set that was tied up just once before the Broncos took control.

Tennessee State then dropped set two 25-17 to fall behind in the match two sets to none. The Lady Tigers fell behind on the first point and never clawed back into the lead before dropping the set.

Boise State finished off the sweep with a third-set win. The Lady Tigers lost a tough set 25-14. Tennessee State trailed by as many as 12 points as Boise State grabbed the advantage for good at 5-4 in a set that was tied up four times before the Broncos took over the lead.

ALABAMA 3, UT MARTIN 0
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Tennessee at Martin volleyball team ran into a hot Alabama squad this afternoon as the Skyhawks dropped a three-set decision (14-25, 9-25, 17-25) to the Southeastern Conference opponent to end the Crimson Tide Invitational.
           
For the third straight match, freshman Kylie Surratt paced UT Martin (1-2) in kills as the freshman from Maryland Heights, Mo. had four rally killers to go along with a co-team-high seven digs. Katie Cruise led the squad in assists (11) and digs (seven) while Dylan Mott additionally scooped up a team-high seven digs.
           
Alabama (3-0) used an extended run to claim the opening set, scoring nine of 12 points during an early stretch to seize control. Surratt topped the Skyhawks with two kills and five digs in the first stanza.
           
UT Martin kept pace during the early phases of the second set but the Crimson Tide ended the stanza on a 19-5 run. Cruise accounted for a team-best four digs in the set.
           
The third set was extremely competitive as 11 tie scores and six lead changes filled up the boxscore. A Crimson Tide service error gave the Skyhawks a 12-11 advantage but Alabama went on to score six unanswered points and UT Martin would not get any closer than five points the rest of the way. Vallée had a team-best three kills on a .400 hitting percentage (no errors in five swings) to lead the Skyhawks.

IU INDY 3, SIUE 2
INDIANAPOLIS - SIUE played closed out the IU- Indy tournament Saturday afternoon against the IU-Indy Jaguars in the Jungle.
 
After opening weekend, SIUE is 1-1 overall. IU-Indy is 0-1
 
IU-Indy leads the charge, winning the first two sets 25-14 and 25-23. The Cougars respond winning the second (25-17) and the third set (25-20) pushing the final game of the tournament into the fifth set, before falling to the Jaguars in the final set (15-12).

SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, BRADLEY 0
PEORIA, Ill. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball (2-1) left the CEFCU Invitational in Peoria, Illinois with a dominating victory (25-23, 25-22, 25-17) against Bradley University needing only three sets, 3-0. Senior outside hitter Abby Weber (Fishers, Indiana) joined a special club, surpassing 1,000 career digs.
 
A strong start led to an opening-frame win for the Eagles, 25-23. The Eagles fired off another late surge, finishing the set on a 14-8 run. Senior Carly Sobieralski (Indianapolis, Indiana) was locked in setting up her teammates nine times along with six digs.
 
USI has dominated the second set all weekend, winning 25-22 marking the third second set victory of the weekend. Five different Eagles fired home kills, but sophomore Ashby Willis (Mount Carmel, Illinois) and senior Paris Downing (Avon, Indiana) led the way with four each. The only clear statistical difference between both squads after two sets was USI's edge in errors (17-12) and blocks (9.0-3.0).
 
The Eagles completed the sweep of the Braves in dominant fashion, 25-17. Junior Bianca Anderson (Chicago Heights, Illinois) proved why she was chosen as an OVC Player to Watch. Anderson put the Braves away with two emphatic kills. USI avenged their narrow five-set loss from the 2023 season with the Braves to tie the series history at one. 
 
Anderson led the Eagles in kills with 11. Sobieralski added another efficient game with 33 assists, averaging 11 per set. Junior Keira Moore (Newburgh, Indiana) led the team in digs with 16 for the second time this season. Anderson also nabbed a team leading five blocks.
 
As a team, USI tallied 40 kills, 38 assists, 68 digs, and nine blocks. The Braves finished with 42 kills, 38 assists, 70 digs, and three blocks. The clear difference was USI committing just 14 errors opposed to the Braves 27.
 
Weber becomes the 14th Screaming Eagle in program history to achieve 1,000 digs. The senior has been a model of consistency since the day she stepped onto campus.
 
The Eagles leave Peoria 2-1, beating opponents from two tough conferences including  Summit League and the Missouri Valley along with taking Depaul University from the Big East wire to wire.

NORTHERN KENTUCKY 3, MOREHEAD STATE 1
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Morehead State Volleyball senior libero Peighton Isley recorded a team-high 14 digs and reached the 1,000-dig milestone for her career as the Eagle volleyball team succumbed 3-1 to Northern Kentucky Saturday night at UK's Memorial Coliseum.

The Eagles won the first set 25-14 but then fell 25-20, 25-20, 25-21.

Isley now sits at 1,009 career digs. MSU fell to 0-2 on the young season.

M.E. Hargan led the team with 11 kills and had her first double-double of the year with 11 digs. Irene Wogenstahl had a team-best six blocks.

LINDENWOOD 3, ILLINOIS STATE 2
NORMAL, Ill. - Lindenwood women's volleyball (2-1, 0-0 OVC) defeated host school Illinois State (1-2, 0-0 MVC) at the Linda Herman Volleyball Classic by a final score of 3-2. The Lions finished off their opening weekend with a 2-1 record.

Rebecca Janke was a force in the middle for the Lions registering a team-high 19 kills on 31 attacks. Janke committed just one attack error posting a team-high .581 hitting percentage. She finished off the weekend with 33 kills and a .385 hitting percentage. Janke also had three blocks in the win.

Addy McAleer was the other Lion to register over 10 kills in this match. She led the Lions over the weekend in kills with 37. Nyah Wilson, Anna Kraemer and Ashley Geluck all had nine kills each as attackers. Lindenwood had 61 total kills in the match compared to 43 by the Redbirds of ISU.

Allie Otten returned to Illinois State and posted 45 assists in the five set win. Otten had over 100 assists on the weekend posting 133 for an average of 9.50 per set. Jessie Seidel from the libero spot also had 10 assists and 14 digs. Dana Grib led the Lions' defense with 19 digs while dropping two aces including one in the fifth set.

Lindenwood's offense hit .152 on the evening while ISU hit .164. Both teams were even behind the service line with eight aces each despite LU posting 13 service errors. Lindenwood and Illinois State were also dead even in digs with 72. Five different Lions registered at least eight digs in the win.

During the first set, Lindenwood fell behind early and never could seize the momentum back. Lindenwood's offense hit .000 in the first while ISU hit .226. The Lions responded in a back-and-forth set two pulling out the victory 25-22. Janke and McAleer combined for 11 of the team's 17 kills in set two.

Lindenwood took advantage of some miscues by Illinois State in the third winning 25-15 to take a 2-1 advantage. ISU was held to a -.103 hitting percentage in the set with nine attack errors to just six kills. Lindenwood's defense also had three blocks in the third.

After ISU tied the match in the fourth set, Lindenwood bounced back in the fifth closing the match out and claiming second place at the tournament. LU opened the set with a 9-4 advantage and never gave up the lead. Janke and Kraemer both had three kills in the closing set.

MILWAUKEE 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 1
DEKALB, Ill. - The Leatherneck volleyball team dropped their second and final game of the Huskie Invitational in a wire-to-wire match that saw 40 ties and 15 lead changes. WIU was once again led offensively by Keyana Cruse who finished with a game-high 29 kills and Maggie Craker who finished with a game-high 45 assists. Elizabeth Ziegler also had another solid offensive performance finishing with 13 kills. Defensively, the Leathernecks were led in digs by Cruse with 31.

The first set saw Milwaukee jump out to an early 8-4 lead, but back-to-back errors by the Panthers gave the Leathernecks life. Following a Brittany Wulf kill to tie the set at 13, Milwaukee would respond by going on a 5-0 run to put them 18-13. Just like the night prior against Northern Illinois, WIU would not go down without a fight. The Leathernecks would go on a 5-1 run of their own to make it 19-18. The rest of the set would go back and forth with the Leathernecks tying the set 3 times in the final 5 points. 

The second set was close the whole way and the biggest lead was 4 with Milwaukee going up 19-15 late in the set. Once again, WIU would dig deep going on another 5-1 run to tie the set at 20. Elizabeth Ziegler would make several big plays down the final stretch of the set, having 3 kills in the final 5 points for the Leathernecks to give them a victory in set 2. 

Trailing 21-16 in set three, WIU would tie it at 22 as a part of a 6-1 run including 2 kills from Keyana Cruse. Cruse would follow that with 4 more kills to tie the set several times to keep the Leathernecks in it but WIU would fall 28-26. In set four, the score was tied 11 times and there were several plays made by Leathernecks to keep it close, including a Grace Kremer kill to give WIU a 19-18 lead late in the set. That was followed by another Cruse kill to give WIU a 21-19 lead. Milwaukee would respond with a 4-1 run and the Leathernecks would go on to drop the set 25-23.