Ohio Valley Conference

MARTIN, Tenn. - SIUE defeated UT Martin in four-sets Saturday. The Cougars claimed the first set 25-23 but dropped the second set (25-22). A kill from Teagan Sullivan sparked a 6-1 run helping the Cougars win the third set (25-19), before they solidified the win in the fourth set (25-20).
 
With the win, the Cougars improved to 11-9 overall and 6-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play, sitting third in the league standing behind Morehead State (7-0) and Little Rock (6-3). The Skyhawks fall to 2-17 overall and 1-7 in OVC play.
 
Sullivan led SIUE with 15 kills while hitting at .448 percent. Sophie Robinson followed with 12 kills, and 13 digs making her third consecutive double-double. Ally Hughes also recorded a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs, while Paige Bernstein matched her with 21 assists.
 
As a team SIUE had 55 kills, seven aces, 10 blocks, 54 assists and 66 digs, while UT Marting had 39 kills, six aces, 13 blocks, 38 assists and 48 digs.
 
The Cougars' defense held the Skyhawks to a .098 hitting percentage, while SIUE hit .154 as a team.

LINDENWOOD 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (8-9, 4-5 OVC) completed a weekend sweep of Tennessee State (1-21, 0-9 OVC) on Saturday afternoon with their second consecutive 3-0 victory.

The opening set was tied 20-20 before the Lions closed out the frame on a 5-0 run to go ahead 1-0 in the match. Kylee Richey paced LU with five kills in the set while Jade Roth posted four terminations.

Lindenwood led for nearly the entire second set after using a 10-1 run to take a commanding 13-4 lead. The Lions led by as many as 10 points on the way to a 25-16 victory. Richey continued to lead the LU attack with five more kills.

The Lions pounced out to a 14-6 lead in the third frame before a 7-1 TSU run cut the difference to just two. However, Lindenwood outscored the Tigers 10-2 the rest of the was to secure the set and match.

Kylee Richey led Lindenwood on the afternoon with 13 kills on a .345 hitting percentage. Autumn Bax also posted double digit kills with 11 on .321.

Amelia Thro bested her career-high for the fourth consecutive match with 37 assists to help the Lions to a team hitting percentage of .291.

Two Lions recorded double digit digs, led by Dana Grib with 16. Meanwhile, Shannon Monahan posted a career-high 11.

SOUTHERN INDIANA 3, LITTLE ROCK 2
EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana completed the series sweep against the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in a five-set thriller Saturday afternoon. The Screaming Eagles move to 5-3 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 9-11 overall.
 
After the two wins against Little Rock, USI remains undefeated in OVC games in Liberty Arena.
 
The Trojans came on strong after losing the first match on Friday night, gaining a five-point lead by the 12th point. USI fought back, putting up three team blocks and 13 digs. Freshman Aysa Thomas led the team with five assists, five digs, and two kills.
 
The Screaming Eagles came ready to fight in the second set, maintaining a grip on the lead for the whole set. Senior Bianca Anderson made the difference for the Eagles in the set, recording six kills and four digs. Thomas dished out another 13 assists, more than doubling the Eagle kill count. Freshman Ava Carpenter made an appearance late in the set, in just her third match for the Eagles, and she recorded three kills to help swing USI's momentum.
 
USI had to fight back from a five-point deficit in the middle of the set, gaining the lead back after a six-point serving run from senior Keira Moore. Thomas recorded another 13 assists, helping Anderson to tally five more kills, three in a row to close out the set. Anderson tallied another five kills, leading the court.
 
The Eagles gave up the lead midway through the set, after the Trojans put up four team blocks, forcing the Eagle offense to struggle. Thomas had her best set yet, with 15 assists, helping junior Ashby Willis to five kills and Anderson to another six. Libero Audrey Small tallied her best set with eight digs.

The fifth set tiebreaker was a back-and-forth battle from the start, with five lead changes and eight tie scores. The Eagles' defense put up another three blocks at the net to help hold the Trojan offense to its least efficient set, with a .050 hitting percentage. Willis led the USI offense with three kills. Freshmen Carpenter and Carley Wright added two kills each.
 
As a team, the Screaming Eagles added 13 total blocks and 81 digs to average 2.6 blocks per set and 16.2 digs per set. With 62 kills on a .207 hitting percentage, USI topped game one's efficiency.  Anderson finished with a season-high 17 kills on just three errors, leading both sides with a .424 hitting percentage.
 
Three freshmen Eagles made the difference for USI in the win. OVC Freshman of the Week, Thomas, tallied 53 assists, tying her career-high, with 19 digs and three kills. Carpenter was ready when her number was called, hitting a career-high of 10 kills. Wright recorded 12 kills, six digs, and three blocks.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Panthers closed out the weekend series, winning 3-1 once again. EIU moves to 11-6 (5-2 OVC), while the Redhawks fall to 12-9 (4-4 OVC).  

EIU is looking to build off a great night one, in which they won the match 3-1. A closer beginning than last night with a tied game, 8-8. SEMO and EIU took turns scoring three straight to begin the match. The multiple-point scoring runs continued into the media timeout, with EIU holding onto a small lead, 15-14. Shortly after the break, EIU caught fire, scoring four unanswered points to take a commanding 20-15 lead. The Panthers held strong defensively, closing out the set 25-18 after Tori Mohesky recorded a service ace.  

After winning set one, the Panthers controlled set two early with a 7-2 lead. SEMO provided resistance, closing the deficit to within two. However, EIU put their foot on the gas pedal, fueling a 4-0 scoring run, extending their lead to 16-10. After the media timeout, the Panthers used a strong defensive effort to hold off any potential SEMO comeback. EIU led late 21-15 and exchanged points back-and-forth to avoid any danger.  

With a 2-0 match lead, the victory was near. However, SEMO had a different plan. The Redhawks jumped out to a 9-7 lead after two straight kills by Lucy Arndt. EIU was unable to turn the momentum, continuing to trail throughout the set. The Panthers, trailing 19-13, attempted a late comeback, scoring three straight from multiple kills by Tori Mohesky. A few plays later, the Panthers once again charged a long scoring effort. Unfortunately, SEMO held on late to steal set three 25-23.  

The Panthers jumped out to a quick 7-4 lead with the hopes of closing out the match. The media timeout called for a break in the action with SEMO leading 15-14. After both teams had time to talk things over, neither was unable to gain separation. SEMO with a small one-point lead was quickly erased after a dominant ending for EIU. The Panthers scored six straight points to take a 24-19 lead. Eastern Illinois closed out the match, winning 3-1 in both matches this weekend. 

Destiny Walker led the team with 21 kills and a .320 hitting percentage. Catalina Rochaix recorded 48 assists, which was a game high. Defensively, the Panthers were strong, with Ariadna Pereles totaling 26 digs, Rochaix with 15, and Mohesky with 14.