Ohio Valley Conference

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball swept Southern Illinois University Edwardsville to secure the win on Senior Day in three sets.
 
With the win, USI finishes its four-game home stand undefeated, remaining unbeaten in Ohio Valley Conference games inside Liberty Arena this season. The Eagles move to 7-3 in OVC games, and 11-11 overall.

The Screaming Eagles took a confident first set, taking a healthy lead midway through the set. Freshman Carley Wright continued her energy from her career-high night in game one against SIUE and put up seven kills in the first frame to lead the court. With the three digs senior Keira Moore picked up in the first, she moved to third place in the USI record book with 1,491 career digs.
 
USI fought the Cougars off with an efficient defense to secure the second set. As a team, they tallied 20 digs and three blocks to keep the SIUE offense to a .111 hitting percentage. Junior Ashby Willis and senior Bianca Anderson led the Eagle offense with four kills each.
 
After some push and pull at the start of the set, the Eagles regained control by the 10th point, maintaining the lead to finish out the game. Wright added another four kills, while Anderson and junior Leah Coleman led the court with five kills each. Right side Mariah Minor took the court late in the set for her Senior Day, to add a block for the Eagles.
 
For the game, freshman setter Aysa Thomas finished with her 15th consecutive double-double with 39 assists and 12 digs. Wright led the Eagles with 13 kills for the game, hitting a .357 percent with just three errors. Willis led the back row with 16 digs, picking up nine just in the final set.

The Screaming Eagles tallied eight blocks as a team, led by junior McKenzie Murphy, who added two solo blocks for four total.

With the series sweep completed, USI takes hold of the third place in the OVC standings, behind previously beaten Eastern Illinois University.

MOREHEAD STATE 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 0
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Morehead State ran their win streak to 10 matches with another sweep over Southeast Missouri (25-15, 25-19, 26-24) Saturday afternoon in Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Morehead State (16-5, 10-0 OVC) was again led by the tandem of senior M.E. Hargan and junior Hollan Everett. Hargan notched 15 kills to go with 11 digs for her 30th career double/double. She also smacked four service aces, matching her career high, set last season.

Everett finished with 10 kills giving her 226 terminations on the season. Junior setter Sydney Sennett posted a match-high 40 assists, running an offense that hit a .336 attack efficiency for the match.

Morehead State got out to a fast start, with Hargan accounting for four of the Eagles' first seven points, with three kills and an ace. The Eagles used three 3-0 runs to take an early 13-7 lead, then got a five-point run to push out to an 18-8 advantage. MSU outscored the Redhawks 4-1 to close out the first set. MSU hit .333 in the set with 14 kills on 36 attacks and held SEMO to just eight kills with eight errors for a .000 hitting percentage.

Southeast Missouri (12-12, 4-6 OVC) got an early four-point run to go ahead 4-1 to open the second frame. The Eagles responded with an 8-1 to take a 10-6 lead. The Redhawks pulled to as close as 13-12; MSU answered with a 4-0 run and saw their lead never get below four the rest of the set. The Eagles smacked five service aces in the set, led by Hargan with two. Morehead State again was very efficient on the attack, posting a .364 hitting percentage on 14 kills with just two errors.

The SEMO attack awakened in the third set. The tandem of Lucy Arndt and Marin Johnson combined for 15 kills and led a Redhawk attack to a .378 hitting percentage in the set. Arndt paced the hosts with 13 kills while Johnson finished with 11. The set had 13 tie scores and four lead changes. Morehead State fell behind 24-22, then held off two set points for the Redhawks. Everett responded with two straight kills to end the match.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, LITTLE ROCK 2
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The winning streak extends to six, as EIU moves past Little Rock in a 5-set thriller. After securing sole possession of second place in the OVC, the Panthers complete the series sweep against Little Rock. EIU moves to 14-6 (8-2 OVC), while the Trojans fall to 11-11 (6-4 OVC).  

After sweeping match one on Friday night, Little Rock stormed out of the game, scoring six straight points to open with a 10-5 lead. The Trojans continued to dominate, scoring four straight points after a lone EIU kill by Emma Schroeder. The bleeding would continue as Little Rock extended their lead to 18-8. The Trojans would close out the first set, winning 25-11.  

Moving on from the tough first set, both teams played evenly until a nuclear scoring streak from the Panthers. EIU scored eight straight unanswered points to take a commanding 20-14 lead. Lilli Amettis, Destiny Walker, and Catalina Rochaix fueled the long momentum shift. The Trojans would attempt a late comeback; however, EIU held strong, winning set two 25-19.  

Like set two, both teams opened the set without separation. EIU held a small early lead, 11-9. Lilli Amettis and Anaya Rawlinson were strong forces on the offensive end, keeping the Trojans at arm's length.  As the match moved along, each team swapped turns, scoring points. The set was tied at 17 apiece until Little Rock finally found separation late, scoring two straight to take a 23-22 lead. EIU was unable to push ahead, dropping set three 25-23.  

The Panthers came out flat to open the fourth set, as Little Rock opened with a 7-0 lead. The Trojans continued to control the set, extending their lead to 15-6 heading into the media timeout. EIU started to turn the corner, scoring four straight points to keep the match competitive. The Panthers continued to chip away at the deficit, trailing 19-15 after a Little Rock service error. The Trojans would score two straight to hold set points; however, EIU would not back down. The Panthers would go on a 3-0 scoring run to tie the set 24-24. Eastern Illinois would complete the comeback after trailing 10 points earlier in the set to win 28-26. 

After set four heroics, both teams battled tightly to start the final set. Each team took turns scoring with the match tied 7 apiece to start the set. Eastern Illinois would find separation, scoring four of the next five points to take an 11-8 lead. The scoring run continued as the Panthers would earn two more points to extend their lead to 13-8.  EIU would hold on to close out the set and two sweep the weekend series against Little Rock.  

Destiny Walker led the way for the Panthers, totaling 19 kills, 21 points, and 13 digs. Lilli Amettis followed Walkers' lead, producing 18 kills and 8 digs. As usual, Rochaix led the team in assists with 54. Defensively, the duo of Ariadna Pereles and Emma Schroeder was impressive once again. Pereles recorded 26 digs, and Schroeder produced 5 blocks.

WESTERN ILLINOIS 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
MACOMB, Ill. - Western Illinois volleyball put together a dominant performance on Saturday afternoon, sweeping Tennessee State 3–0 inside Western Hall. The Leathernecks hit .330 as a team and notched 10 total blocks, cruising to their fourth conference victory of the season. Western Illinois volleyball put together a dominant performance on Saturday afternoon, sweeping Tennessee State 3–0 inside Western Hall. The Leathernecks hit .330 as a team and notched 10 total blocks, cruising to their fourth conference victory of the season.

WIU raced out to an early 7–2 lead behind kills from junior outside hitter Kennedy Adair and graduate outside hitter Keyana Cruse, plus a pair of service aces from sophomore libero Karlie Lane. The Leathernecks kept the pressure on, forcing two TSU timeouts before closing the set on a kill by middle block junior Hillary Estes. Senior middle block Grace Kremer and Cruse each tallied multiple kills, while WIU limited the Tigers to a -.094 hitting percentage. The Leathernecks ultimately took the win, scoring 25-16 against the Tigers.

The Leathernecks stayed hot in the second frame, turning a 6–6 tie into a 13–9 advantage on back-to-back kills by senior right side Elizabeth Ziegler. WIU's offense continued to click, hitting .324 in the set with four players recording at least two kills. Estes led the way again with six kills, while Lane added another ace and 12 digs to anchor the back row. Western Illinois closed it out after a Tennessee State attack error to take a 2–0 match lead, 25-18. 

WIU completed the sweep with one of its most efficient offensive efforts of the season, hitting .361 as a team. Adair, Ziegler, and Cruse each delivered key kills in the middle stretch, while Estes sealed the match with her team-leading 14th kill. The Leathernecks' block continued to dominate, posting 10 total rejections in the match, led by Estes and Ziegler, with the game ending 25-18. 

Western Illinois improves to 6–16 (3–6 OVC), while Tennessee State falls to 1–23 (0–11 OVC).