Ohio Valley Conference

NASHVILLE - Southeast Missouri Volleyball (14-12, 6-6 OVC) secured a decisive 3-0 victory over Tennessee St. (1-26, 0-14 OVC) on Saturday at Kean Hall Gymnasium, with set scores of 25-16, 25-14, 25-13. SEMO recorded a .333 hitting percentage, dominating the match from start to finish.

SEMO took an early lead with a service ace and a kill from Marin Johnson, setting the tone at 4-2. Alandry Below's service ace and a subsequent kill by Kara Oxenknecht extended their lead to 6-3. Avery Torrey contributed with two kills, aiding the Redhawks to a 15-10 advantage. Mackenzie Tucker's kill followed by a Katherine St. John finish secured the set for the visitors at 25-16.  

SEMO established an early lead with key kills from Johnson and Alaina Lester, tying the score at 2-2. Katherine St. John contributed two consecutive kills, propelling the team to a 5-2 advantage. A service ace by Nina Schuberth and a series of attack errors from the Tigers extended the lead for Southeast Missouri State to 13-6. Torrey and Tucker delivered crucial kills as the Redhawks closed the set with a 25-14 victory.  

Southeast Missouri opened with a block from Lester and Johnson, establishing an early point. Johnson contributed significantly with two kills and a block, helping SEMO extend the lead to 7-2. Tucker's two consecutive service aces fueled a decisive seven-point run, pushing the score to 15-7. SEMO closed the set with a service ace from Johnson, sealing a 25-13 victory .

MOREHEAD STATE 3, LITTLE ROCK 1
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Entering Saturday's conference match, visiting Morehead State had lost just three sets in conference play. They left the Jack Stephens Center with three more, plus the first blemish on its Ohio Valley Conference record, thanks to a 3-0 sweep by the Trojans, who earned a split of the season series against the first-place Eagles.
 
Morehead State (17-6, 11-1 OVC) had compiled a 33-3 record in conference sets after putting away Little Rock in four on Friday night. But where the Trojans (12-12, 7-5) were unsuccessful last night – closing out sets while leading – they took care of business today and sent a message to the OVC that they weren't to be taken lightly.
 
A'lanae Margaritha led the team with 14 kills on 21 attempts, achieving a hitting percentage of .667 and contributing 17.5 points. Jaycee Kennedy recorded six blocks, adding to her 10 points and seven kills. Andrea Roman excelled defensively, collecting 19 digs and adding three assists. Dariana Valencia facilitated her teammates with 21 assists while also adding nine digs and a service ace. The Trojans held Morehead State to just .179 percent on its attack.

The first set commenced with Little Rock and the Eagles exchanging early points, as the Eagles initially took the lead. Little Rock responded with a significant rally to equalize at 10-10, highlighted by a service ace from Roman and kills by Crismeyli Rodriguez and Margaritha. Following the tie, Little Rock continued to exert pressure, capitalizing on the Eagles' errors and effective blocks by Vivian Lucumi and Kennedy, setting the tone for the rest of the match.
 
Little Rock opened the second set with a strong start, capitalizing on the Eagles' errors to secure a 3-0 lead, highlighted by Margaritha's kill. Little Rock maintained control with a kill from Sophia Garrido, extending the lead to 4-1. Despite multiple rallies from the Eagles, Little Rock regained momentum. Bella Cherry played a pivotal role, delivering crucial kills to push the home team ahead 13-10. The Eagles fought back, closing the gap to 21-19, but Kennedy's timely kills sealed the set for Little Rock. The set concluded with a 25-23 victory for Little Rock, extending the match.
 
Little Rock capitalized on a strong start in the third set with a 4-0 run, initiated by an attack error from the Eagles, followed by a kill and a service ace from Margaritha. Little Rock maintained momentum, extending its lead to 9-3 with effective blocks and another service ace from Margaritha.
 
Despite a rally by the Eagles, which tied the score at 20-20, Little Rock regained control. Kennedy's timely kill and a service error by the Eagles allowed Little Rock to inch ahead. The decisive moments came with back-to-back blocks involving Kennedy and Lucumi, pushing Little Rock to the edge of victory. Little Rock ultimately secured the set and the match with a final score of 26-24.

LINDENWOOD 3, WESTERN ILLINOIS 1
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (10-10, 6-6 OVC) completed the weekend sweep of Western Illinois (7-18, 4-8 OVC) with another four-set win on Saturday afternoon, as Faith Atkins and Amelia Thro were recognized pre-match for Senior Day.

Lindenwood dominated the opening frame, using an early five-point burst to open up a 5-1 lead before growing their advantage to as manyas 13 with an 8-0 scoring run later in the set. Lindenwood hit .290 as a team in the opener, with Jade Roth leading the way with four kills on a .500 attack percentage.

Set two was a tougher task, with the Leathernecks keeping constant pressure on the Lions throughout the frame. After six lead changes, the score stood tied at 24 before an Autumn Bax kill followed by an Atkins-Bax combination block sealed the set for Lindenwood. Bax led LU offensively with five kills

Western used an early 9-0 run to take a commanding 10-2 lead in set three before eventually extending their advantage to 11 points. However, Lindenwood put together a valiant 13-3 run to pull within a point before falling just short 25-23.

Lindenwood led 17-14 in set four before seven unanswered points from WIU put the Lions in danger of dropping back-to-back sets. However, LU was able to regroup and outscore the Leathernecks 8-2 down the stretch to take the match. Autumn Bax finished the afternoon strong with six kills on nine attempts with zero errors in the frame.

Bax led the Lions in the match with 15 kills on a .225 hitting percentage. She was followed by Kylee Richey with 11 kills.

Ashley Geluck and Jade Roth both posted nine kills while Faith Atkins put down eight terminations. Roth and Atkins also added four blocks apiece to lead the team, with Roth posting three solo rejections.

Amelia Thro led the match with 49 assists as the Lions hit .200 as a team, while Dana Grib recorded a team-high 16 digs in the contest.

TENNESSEE TECH 3, SIUE 0
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - With the Ohio Valley Conference race winding down, the Tennessee Tech volleyball team picked up a crucial two-match sweep, completing the victory march with a three-set victory over SIUE on Saturday.

Tech prevailed 25-23, 28-26 and 25-15. The Golden Eagles improve to 11-14 overall, 8-5 in the OVC. Tech continues the road trip this week as it heads to Evansville to take on Southern Indiana on Wednesday.

Bella Powell led the Golden Eagles with 12 kills, collecting seven digs and an assisted block. Tuva Falk was efficient as the freshman hit .412, picking up 10 kills on 17 swings, while Alayna Pierce had nine kills and 11 digs. Jordan Karlen put together 40 assists in the three sets.

Kyndia Smith led SIUE (12-13, 7-7 OVC) with eight kills and five digs, while Grace Nichols had seven kills, Kennedy Pike and Sophie Robinson six.

It was a heated match as there were 13 ties in both the first and second sets and eight in the third, while the lead swapped eight times in the first, five in the second and four in the third.

In the opening set, Tech was at set point at 24-20, but SIUE collected three straight kills to make it a one-point advantage before Powell cleared the slate with a kill for the 25-23 win.

In the second, Ava Schubert and Jordyn Milhouse blocked Sophie Robinson's attack, knotting the set at 23. After an SIUE attack error gave Tech set point, the Cougars tied it up again with a Robinson kill.

Schubert had a kill to put Tech back up 25-24, but Vienna Elliott squared things up with a kill. Pierce put the Golden Eagles up 26-25, then an SUIE block evened things up at 26. Karlen put Tech up 27-26 with a kill, then Karlen and Falk blocked Pike's effort to give the Golden Eagles the set win.

In the third set, following an 11-11 tie, Tech outscored SIUE 14-4 as the Golden Eagles cruised to the 25-15 victory.