EVANSVILLE, Ind. - University of Southern Indiana Volleyball marked a four-set win over the Western Illinois University Leathernecks to open Senior Day weekend.
 
In USI's fifth home win, the Screaming Eagles move to 3-4 in Ohio Valley Conference play and 8-11 overall for the season so far.
 
The Screaming Eagles dominated the opening set, taking control of the lead confidently after seven points. Senior Ashby Willis tallied seven kills, while freshman Aubrey Fair added four on zero errors to lead the team in hitting percentage. Sophomore Aysa Thomas dished out 16 assists and led her offense to a match-high .516 hitting percentage.
 
USI maintained control of the second set for the duration of the frame, posting the highest point margin of the evening. As a team, the Screaming Eagles tallied five aces to keep the Leathernecks out of system. Fair, Willis, and sophomore Mackenzie Nettles each tallied three kills to fill out the offensive attack. USI's libero and OVC Defensive Player of the Week, Audrey Small, picked up seven digs in the set to lead the court's defense.
 
The Leathernecks rallied in the third frame, forcing 14 tie scores and six lead changes as the two teams went point for point. Wright had her best set, adding nine kills, and Willis recorded three. Senior Jillian Moonan came off the bench for her first appearance in an OVC match this season to add two kills on no errors and a dig. Thomas and Small split the back row coverage, each picking up seven digs.
 
The Screaming Eagles came back in the fourth to tally the match win, opening the set with a 5-0 run. Four USI players finished the set with three kills, including Willis, Wright, freshman Vita Sensenbrenner, and senior Leah Coleman. Thomas split setting duties with senior Aspen Jankowski as they each dished out six to lead the offense to the second-highest percentage of the match.
 
For the match, the team maintained a season-high .336 hitting percentage, led by freshmen Fair and Sensenbrenner, and Moonan. The match marks the fourth match of the season that the team has tallied nine or more service aces, led by Willis with three.
 
Willis and Wright each tallied 16 kills to lead the point scoring. Thomas connected on 41 assists and tallied a double-double with 15 digs. Small picked up a season-high 22 digs, along with her two aces.
 
Tomorrow, as USI closes out the series against WIU, the team will celebrate its four seniors, Coleman, Maeve Moonan, Jillian Moonan, and Jankowski.
 

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LINDENWOOD 3, SIUE 2
ST. CHARLES, Mo. - The Lindenwood women's volleyball team (19-3, 9-1 OVC) completed a reverse sweep of SIUE (5-15, 3-5 OVC) on Friday night inside Hyland Arena.

In the first set, SIUE won the race to 10 and continued to lead at the media timeout, 15-10. The Lions chipped away and got within a pair after an Ashley Geluck block cut the deficit to 22-20. SIUE settled back down and won three of the next four points to take the first set 25-21.

The second stanza was a back-and-forth one as SIUE grabbed a 10-9 lead following a kill by Claire Jones. The Cougars extended its advantage with the help of a few blocks and led 15-10 at the media timeout. SIUE was able to hold onto the second set and take a 2-0 lead into the third.

Lindenwood jumped out in front 6-2 to begin the third, but SIUE clawed back and got within one at 11-10. From there, the Lions scored seven of the next eight points, including a pair of kills by Susana Beretti and the Black and Gold had some cushion, leading 18-11. A few points later, Lauren Ortwerth finished off the set at 25-20.

The momentum continued into the fourth with the Lions hitting .400 as a team. Lindenwood cruised out to a big 14-3 lead, capped off by a Geluck kill and never looked back, winning the set 25-8 and sending it to the fifth.

In the fifth, Lindenwood gained control behind a .545 hitting percentage. A block by Geluck gave the Lions a 9-4 lead and went onto win the fifth set 15-6.

SIUE were held to just 14 points combined in the final two sets as three Lions had 13 or more kills led by Ortwerth with 14, followed by Beretti and Autumn Bax with 13.
 

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MOREHEAD STATE 3, TENNESSEE STATE 0
NASHVILLE - Morehead State posted a season-high .442 hitting percentage and cruised to a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-11, 25-13) of Tennessee State Friday night in Kean Hall in Nashville, Tennessee.
 
Morehead State (8-11, 4-5 OVC) was led by Riley McCloskey, who set a career-high with 11 kills and posted a .550 hitting percentage. Senior Amelia Nott and Freshman Ella Warrick both smacked 10 kills apiece.
 
Nott posted a .643 attack percentage with 10 kills on 14 attacks and Warrick hit .529 with 10 kills on 17 swings.
 
In the opening set, Morehead State used a 9-0 run to gain control 11-2.  Later, the Tigers responded with a five-point run to cut the Eagle lead to 15-12. A 4-0 MSU run got the Eagles back out to a 19 12 lead and Morehead State closed out the set with Haidyn Carter's first ace of her collegiate career. Morehead State hit .293 in the opening frame and held TSU to a .138 efficiency.
 
Morehead State got another early run in the second set to take control of the frame. The Eagles used a 6-0 run to extend their lead to 11-3. A 7-1 run pushed the MSU lead out to 19-8. The Eagles closed out the set with a 5-1 run to take the second set 25-11. MSU notched 11 kills in 20 attacks with just one error for an incredible .667 hitting percentage. TSU was held to a .038 hitting efficiency.
 
The teams traded points early in the final set before MSU got a 4-0 run to extend its lead to 11-6, highlighted by two kills by Ella Warrick. A 4-1 MSU run followed by a five-point run highlighted by two service aces by Courtney Fitzgerald put the Eagles ahead by 22-11. MSU closed out the match with a 3-1 run. Morehead State posted a .500 attack efficiency in the final set with 13 kills on 24 swings with one error.
 
Tennessee State (0-18, 0-7 OVC) was led by Sydney Robinson with seven kills with a .375 hitting percentage. Gabrielle Washington added five kills and three total blocks with two block solos.
 

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SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, UT MARTIN 0
MARTIN, Tenn. - Southeast Missouri  swept UT Martin 3-0 on Friday, winning 25-21, 25-16, 25-17. The Redhawks hit .337 with 42 kills and served 10 aces while holding UT Martin to a .177 hitting percentage.

SEMO (15-7, 8-1 OVC) won the first set 25-21, using a four-point stretch to move ahead 11-6 behind a Reagan Nelson kill and a Marin Johnson service ace. UT Martin (9-11, 4-5 OVC)  got within 19-18, but the Redhawks answered with three straight points, including a Jacey Young block assist and another Nelson kill. Lucy Arndt closed the set with a kill from Megan Holder.

Southeast Missouri created early separation in the second set by winning seven of eight points after UT Martin scored the opening point, building a 7-2 lead. UT Martin closed the gap to 16-13, but SEMO answered with a stretch that included an Arndt kill, a Harper Highfill service ace and a Johnson kill to push the lead back to 20-13. Johnson later finished the set with a service ace as the Redhawks took it 25-16.

SEMO separated early in the third set on Reagan Nelson's serve, scoring four straight points to move from 2-1 to 6-1 behind two Alaina Lester/Katherine St. John blocks and a Nelson ace. Ellie Burns added a later serving stretch with an ace and assisted kills by Johnson and Young as Southeast Missouri pushed the score to 11-4. Nelson closed the set with another ace, giving the Redhawks a 25-17 finish.