Ohio Valley Conference

MACOMB, Ill. - The Tennessee Tech volleyball team will head back to Cookeville Friday in first place in the Ohio Valley Conference after the Golden Eagles complete the two-match sweep over Western Illinois.

Tech (5-9, 2-0 OVC) swept the match itself with a 25-19, 25-18 and 25-20 victory.

Ava Schubert led the Golden Eagles offensively with 10 kills on 16 swings for a .500 hitting percentage, while Bella Powell had nine kills and Tuva Falk seven. Jordan Karlen had 26 assists to go with her own six kills, along with seven digs and one assisted block. MK Roberts had a team-best 11 digs, while the Golden Eagles had six block assists with two for Jordyn Milhouse.

As a team, Tech hit .295 with 38 total kills.

Keyana Cruse led Western Illinois (3-12, 0-2 OVC) with 12 kills, while Kennedy Adair had four. Madelyn Norton had six assists, while Alysia Perez collected six. The Leathernecks had a .074 hitting percentage with 23 total kills.

In the first set tied at 10, Western Illinois climbed out to a 15-11 advantage, but the Golden Eagles soared back to tie the match once more at 15, then again at 17. Tech outscored WIU 8-2 to close out the set. Powell had six kills in the set, while Schubert brought down four.

Tech started off the second set with a 7-3 lead only to see the Leathernecks battle back to a 12-12 tie. From there, the Golden Eagles went on an 8-2 run to lead 20-14, bolstered by a pair of service aces from MK Roberts, as well as kills from Falk and Schubert. Tech held on, outscoring WIU 5-4 to end the set 25-18.

Falk and Karlen had three kills in the set to pace the way.

The third set saw the hosts eke out a lead and the Golden Eagles come back with 10 ties and four lead changes. With the set square at 15, Tech outscored the Leathernecks 10-5 to close out the match with the sweep.

Schubert had five kills in the finale, while Falk and Karlen added three more to their tallies.

SIUE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Volleyball swept Tennessee State in game one of conference play. The Cougars dominated the Tigers 25-19,25-15 and 25-13.
 
SIUE improves to 6-6 on the season and 1-0 in conference play. TSU falls to 1-12 and 0-1 in OVC play.
 
Sophie Robinson led the Cougars in their attack with 10 kills, hitting at .474 percent. Kyndia Smith and Maddie Determan each had a hitting percentage of .500 off of five or more kills.
 
Ally Hughes set the Cougars up with 18 assists and was followed by Paige Bernstein with 14 assists. Grace Nicols contributed four service aces for SIUE.
 
As a Team the Cougars had a season high 11 service aces. They also had 45 kills, four blocks, 37 assists and 39 digs. While TSU only had 31 kills, one ace, no blocks, 27 assists and 35 digs.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, LINDENWOOD 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois opened their conference play against Lindenwood and squeezed out a close 3-1 victory. The Panthers improve to 7-4 (1-0), while the Lions drop to 4-5 (0-1).  

Lindenwood set the tone early with three straight unanswered points, quieting a rocking crowd to start the match. However, EIU will keep the set close with two kills by Lilli Amettis. As the set went on, Lindenwood kept an arm's length distance. With the Lions continuing to put pressure on the Panthers, Lilli Amettis, with her second back-to-back kill play, brought the Panthers back, but they were still trailing 18-16. Then, EIU would take their first lead of the set with a 5-0 scoring run fueled by Destiny Walker and Katie Kopshever. The Panthers would hold on to win the opening set 25-22 after a service error by Amelia Thro. 

Similar to the first set, the Panthers trailed early, down 8-3 after Lindenwood opened with a 5-0 scoring run of their own. A service ace would slow the game down, but the Panthers would not hold serve for long due to another long scoring run from the Lions. With EIU trailing 15-10, flashbacks to set one occurred; the Panthers used a 4-0 scoring run to energize all 335 fans in attendance. Two Lindenwood points later, EIU fires away four unanswered points to take their first lead of set two. Lindenwood's Geluck Ashley would earn herself a kill to give the Lions a 25-24 lead. With their backs against the wall, EIU scores three straight with back-to-back kills from Walker and a service ace from Ariadna Pereles to close it out 27-25. 

Lindenwood opened up set three firing with a quick 12-5 lead. As usual, EIU would respond with a 6-0 scoring run charged by Tori Mohesky's serving ability and multiple Katie Kopshever kills. With the match tied at 13, Lindenwood and Eastern Illinois would take turns scoring multiple points in a row, leading to a 19-19 tie. Set three would go the distance once again, with the Lions taking set three 28-26 off a 3-0 scoring run by Geluck Ashley and company.  

The Panthers would settle into their feet and start set four off on a high note, leading 9-6. EIU, knowing it was a closeout set, put their foot on the gas, going on multiple scoring runs, including a 4-0 run to extend their lead to 18-8. Leading by ten points, EIU stood firm, continuing to pile on their dominance, leading by as much as 11. The lead cushioned to 22-11. With the big lead, Eastern Illinois never looked back, with a Destiny Walker service ace and Lindenwood's service error giving the Panthers a match victory!  

Destiny Walker led the team and the game with 20 kills and 9 digs. Katie Kopshever recorded 12 kills and 6 digs. The playmaker, Catalina Rochaix, led the way with 41 assists and 10 digs. Defensively, Anaya Rawlinson provided 4 blocks, and Ariadna Pereles led the game with 19 digs and tagged on 5 service aces.  

As a team, EIU totaled 65 points, 54 kills, 6 blocks, 50 assists, and 55 digs.

MOREHEAD STATE 3, SOUTHERN INDIANA 1
MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State had four players finish with double-digit kills and five with double-digits in digs, turning back Southern Indiana 3-1 Friday night in Johnson Arena in Morehead, Ky.

The set scores were 15-25, 25-13, 25-12, and 25-23.

Morehead State (7,5, 1-0 OVC) was led by senior M.E. Hargan with 20 kills and a career-high 26 digs. Junior Hollan Everett finished with 13 kills, hitting .256. Sarah Heath added 11 terminations and Amelia Nott finished with 10.

Southern Indiana (4-9, 0-1 OVC) dominated the net in the opening set, registering seven total blocks and holding the Eagles to a -.111 hitting percentage. The Screaming Eagles rode a 10-point run through the middle portion of the set to provide the margin. USI hit .200 with 10 kills on 30 swings.

Morehead State bounced back in the second set, slamming 14 kills on 41 swings for a .317 efficiency. The Eagles held Southern Indiana to just six kills and a .077 attack percentage.

The Eagles kept up the momentum in the third set limiting USI to a -.044 hitting percentage, while registering 13 kills while hitting .237. The Eagles out-dug USI 26-19 in the frame.

MSU closed out the match with a strong fourth set hitting a .278 efficiency, led by seven kills by Hargan and six by Everett.