Ohio Valley Conference

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State got off to a fast start and used a stout defense to sweep Southern Indiana (25-19, 25-17, 25-21) to sweep the series Saturday afternoon in Johnson Arena.

Morehead State (8-5, 2-0 OVC) was led by Hollan Everett, who posted 13 kills, hitting .281 and posted four total blocks. Sarah Heath tied her career high with 12 kills and added three blocks. The Eagles posted 10 blocks in the match, led by Morehead native Bailey Brashear with five.

MSU reeled off the first nine points of the match and held off a USI comeback in the opening set. USI closed to 18-20 before the Eagles outscored Southern Indiana 5-1 to close out the frame. MSU hit .255 while holding USI to a .132 efficiency.

Morehead State used a six-point run to take an early 10-4 lead in the second set. Southern Indiana fought back to tie the score at 11-11. Morehead outscored the Screaming Eagles 8-1 and closed out the set with a 5-2 run. The Eagles posted six blocks in the frame, holding USI to a -.022 hitting percentage. Brashear and Heath both posted three block assists in the set.

Set three was tightly contested with seven tie scores and two lead changes. USI, who entered the weekend leading the Ohio Valley Conference in blocks piled up five in the frame. After a service error tied the score at 18-18, Morehead State ran off a four-point run to go up 22-18. USI held off two match points before Heath ended the match with her 12th kill of the afternoon.

Southern Indiana was led by Leah Coleman with eight kills. Carley Wright added seven and Ashby Willis and Bianca Anderson added six apiece. Anderson also posted a game-high six blocks.

SIUE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - SIUE volleyball sweeps the weekend with their second three set-decision against Tennessee State (29-27, 25-21, 25-11). Grace Nicols led the team with a career high 10 block assists. The last time a Cougar had 10 or more blocks was during 2024 against Bellarmine during the Cougar Classic.

The Cougars advance to 7-6 on the season and 2-0 in OVC play, while the Tigers fall to 1-13 and 0-2 in OVC.
 
Sophie Robinson led the team once again with 13 kills. With a hitting percentage of .333.
 
The offense was guided by Paige Bernstein with 11 assists and Ally Hughes with 17.
 
As a team the Cougars balanced their game with 42 kills and 13 blocks. They also had eight aces, 39 assists and 41 digs.

LITTLE ROCK 3, SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 2
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - If Southeast Missouri – the defending Ohio Valley Conference champions – came into Saturday's match with a target on its back, that target may have moved onto the shoulder of the Little Rock Trojans, who rallied from a 2-1 deficit to upend the Redhawks 3-2 in front of a home crowd at the Jack Stephens Center.
 
Little Rock (6-7, 1-0) beat SEMO (8-7, 1-1) for the first time since 2022, ending a string of four straight losses to the Redhawks, who appeared poised to leave with another win in the series. But, after a pair of Trojans collided on the court, leaving one down on the floor for several minutes, Little Rock used that as fuel to rally and send SEMO home on the losing end after a thrilling match with scores of 25-23, 24-26, 12-25, 25-23, and 15-11.
  
Vivian Lucumi matched her career-high with 18 kills on a .417 attack percentage (18k-3e-36a). Kaylee Smith – one of the players involved in the collision – posted a double-double with 28 assists and 10 digs. Little Rock hit for a .500 percentage in the fifth set, posting 12 kills on 24 attempts with no errors.
 
Crismeyli Rodriguez finished with 19 kills and 14 digs, Bella Cherry had 25 digs and 11 kills, and Dariana Valencia added 26 assists and 16 digs. Andrea Roman bounced back from the on-court collision to post a career-best 37 digs. A'lanae Margaritha added 10 kills, and Jaycee Kennedy had a team-high six blocks.
 
Little Rock rebounded from a 7-1 deficit to take the opening set, thanks to a 15-7 run that put them ahead 16-14. The Trojans led by as many as six (21-15) in the opening frame. The Trojans also led 21-17 in the second set, but SEMO put together five straight points for a 22-21 advantage and held off Little Rock to tie the match at 1-1.
 
After SEMO coasted to a third-set win, Little Rock never trailed in the fourth, leading by as many as four on several occasions. Rodriguez (seven kills) and Lucumi (six kills) led the way in the fourth. The final frame was tight until the Trojans went ahead 10-7, then finished the contest with four of the last five points.

EASTERN ILLINOIS 3, LINDENWOOD 1
CHARLESTON, Ill. - Eastern Illinois made a statement in the opening weekend of OVC play, sweeping the Lindenwood Lions. As a reminder, EIU was picked to finish eighth in the conference overall. This victory moves EIU to 8-4 (2-0), while Lindenwood drops to 4-6 (0-2).  

EIU suffered multiple slow starts on Friday, but today they had a different mindset. Eastern Illinois opened fast with a 4-0 scoring run off of the serves from Ariadna Pereles. EIU kept an arm's length away from the Lions throughout the match and used multiple mini scoring runs. Destiny Walker and Katie Kopshever, the dynamic offensive duo, cushioned the EIU lead to 22-13. The Lions would attempt to make a late comeback cutting EIU's lead to 24-17, but the Panthers would hold on with a Katie Kopshever kills to close out the opening set. EIU recorded a season high .405 hitting percentage with only 2 recorded errors.  

After facing no trouble in set one, the Panthers were red hot with their longest scoring run of the season with seven unanswered points to take a 12-7 lead. However, Lindenwood responded with a 4-0 scoring run fueled by two serving aces by Alayna Rudebeck. Both teams would take turns scoring multiple points in a row, including another late charge from the Lions, who scored four straight points but continued to trail 23-20. With the late lead, EIU held on with Tori Mohesky and Lilli Amettis putting the set away.  

Similar to game one on Friday, the Lions responded to the Panthers' roar in set three. Both teams fighting early were all tied up at 8 apiece. A service ace by Katie Kopshever and two Lindenwood errors would give the Panthers a 15-10 lead heading into the media timeout. After the break, the Lions put their foot on the gas, scoring six unanswered points to stun the EIU faithful, taking the lead 18-16. Later on, in the set, EIU would take a 22-21 lead charged by Katie Kopshever. Unfortunately, Lindenwood would speed past with a 3-0 scoring run to close out set three and stay alive.  

With their eyes on closing the match out, EIU scored three straight to take the early 10-8 lead. Not too long after, the Panthers would tag on another four consecutive points to extend their lead to 15-11. The Lions tried to force a fifth set; however, the Panthers would stop their momentum quickly off two kills from Destiny Walker and Lilli Amettis paired with a Cataline Rochaix service ace. After two Lindenwood points, the Panthers avoided any late danger with a kill from Lilli Amettis and two kills by Katie Kopshever, including the final attack, to give the Panthers a 3-1 match victory!  

A dominant performance from Lilli Amettis, who totaled 15 kills, 4 blocks, 3 digs, and 17 points. Right behind her, Destiny Walker recorded 13 kills and 8 digs. Katie Kopshever was dominant with 13 kills, 10 digs, and 14 points. Catalina Rochaix led the game with 49 assists and tallied 8 digs. Defensively, Ariadna Pereles led the game with 18 digs.