MOREHEAD STATE 3, JACKSONVILLE STATE 1
JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - Redshirt sophomore Aryn Bohannon hammered a match-high 24 kills, while sophomore Leslie Schellhaas collected a match-best 25 digs as the Morehead State volleyball team posted a 3-1 victory (22-25, 25-20, 25-17, 25-17) over Jacksonville State on Friday evening at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

The Eagles improve to 23-6 overall and 18-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference with their fifth consecutive win, while the Gamecocks fall to 10-19 on the season and 8-11 in league play.

The 18 conference wins are a new school record for Morehead State.  A win in the regular-season finale on Saturday at Tennessee Tech would give the Eagles an all-time OVC record for league victories.

Morehead State, which has already clinched an OVC regular-season title for the second straight year, will host the league championship at Wetherby Gym next Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Bohannon hit a sizzling .476 (24-4-42) and added 16 digs in MSU's win over the Gamecocks. 

Redshirt senior Emma Keough (12), redshirt freshman Laura McDermott (11) and junior Ellie Roberson (11) also reached the 10-kill plateau for the Eagles, while junior Caitlin Clark contributed 55 assists and 14 digs.

Morehead State hit .274 (66-23-157) for the match, while limiting Jacksonville State to a .173 (44-18-150) clip.  The Eagles also recorded 25 blocks assists and nine aces in the match.

McDermott rejected seven JSU attacks at the net, while junior Annie Gruenschlaeger tallied six blocks.

Senior Liza Senenkova led the Gamecocks with 13 smackdowns and six block assists.  Classmate Lauren Harkins chipped in with 17 digs in the setback.

UT MARTIN 3, SIUE 1
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE volleyball celebrated senior Jessica Hemann's final match in a Cougar uniform Friday but were defeated 3-1 in the season finale by UT Martin.

UT Martin, which is battling for the No. 2 seed at next week's Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, improved to 17-12 overall and 12-7 in conference play with a 25-22, 17-25, 25-23, 25-18 win over the Cougars. SIUE completed the season with a 13-19 mark and an 8-12 record in its first season playing with an OVC schedule.

The Cougars and the Skyhawks played a decidedly defensive match as the teams battled through long points and dizzying rallies. UT Martin finished with 95 digs in the four-set match, including 34 from libero Kasey Elswick. SIUE liberoChelsea Colclasure was equal to the task with 36 of her own.

UT Martin grabbed its advantage by blocking well against the Cougars. Britany Wilburn, who had 11 kills, lifted the Skyhawks with eight blocks. UT Martin had 11 blocks for the match.

Cori Harris led the Cougar offense with 11 kills while Brooke Smith added 10. SIUE's offense outhit UT Martin. The Cougars finished the match with 57 kills and a .188 hitting percentage. UT Martin collected 52 kills and a .168 hitting percentage.

Hemann completed her final match with nine kills and a team-high three blocks. Johnson said Hemann was a boost to the team chemistry this season.

UT Martin started the match with an early lead but surrendered a four-point lead at 20-20 when Hemann put away a kill for the Cougars. The Skyhawks prevailed down the stretch behind a pair of kills from Wilburn.

SIUE would tie up the match in the second set with a steady hand. Hemann recorded five kills and Harris added four as it cruised to a .349 hitting percentage.

The play was tight again in the third set. The two teams were deadlocked at 23-23 when Wilburn and Ashley Doherty supplied back-to-back kills for the set victory. Doherty would lead all players with 14 kills.

Doherty would strike for five more kills in the fourth set. UT Martin claimed seven of the last nine points of the set to close out the victory.

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI 3, AUSTIN PEAY 1
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -  The Southeast Missouri Volleyball team clinched a spot in the Ohio Valley Conference Women's Volleyball Championship Tournament after a 3-1 (16-25, 25-22, 25-15, 25-15) win over Austin Peay Friday evening at Houck Fieldhouse.

 The Redhawks were led by Julie Shives who surpassed 2,000 career assists as she dished out 34 assists and added 20 digs for Southeast.
 
The Redhawks dropped the first set as Southeast only hit .083 in the frame. Southeast found themselves down 6-1 early in the set and could not recover as they dropped the opening frame 25-16.
 
Southeast recovered in the second set holding the Lady Govs to a .020 hitting percentage.  The Redhawks exchanged blows with the Lady Govs in the set, but the Redhawks used a four-point run late to take the set 25-22.
 
The Redhawks hit a game-high .241 in the third set. Southeast was aggressive with 13 kills in the set.  Southeast used two five-point runs in the frame, as Andrea Baylin served each run as Southeast took the third set 25-15.
 
Southeast held Austin Peay to a -.030 hitting percentage in the fourth set as the Redhawks ran away with the set 25-15. The Redhawks used a seven point run early as Southeast clinched a spot in the OVC Championship Tournament  by taking the final set and taking the match 3-1.
 
The Redhawks hit .154 on the night with 10 blocks. The Governors hit .074 on the night and out blocked the Redhawks with 11.
 
The Redhawks had a balanced attack on the night which was led by junior Karlee Lursen who had a team-high 10 kills. Fellow junior Brittany Kalinoski added nine kills.
 
Sophomore Emily Coon added nine kills and six total blocks. Sophomore Berkley Idel  and Shives added 20 digs apiece for Southeast.
 
Senior Paige Dossey also added balance for the Redhawks with five kills and seven digs to go along four assists.

Austin Peay was led by Nikki Doyle with 13 kills while Ilyanna Hernandez chipped in 11. Paige Economos led the APSU defense with 25 digs.

TENNESSEE STATE 3, MURRAY STATE 0
MURRAY, Ky. - The Murray State volleyball team dropped a 3-0 (22-25, 20-25, 26-28) decision to Tennessee State in Racer Arena on the annual Parent's Night.  The Racers are now 8-22 overall and 8-11 in the Ohio Valley Conference, before their final regular-season match Saturday night.

MSU was led by freshman Beth Mahurin, who tallied a team-best 10 kills and added three digs and two blocks.  Senior Cassy Woolverton contributed nine kills and senior Teresa Krog added eight.

Shaquita Williams paced the Tigers with 12 kills while Britani Hathron had a team-best 11 digs.

The Racers took an early 10-4 lead in the first set after going on a 7-0 run, with sophomore Katlyn Hudson serving.  MSU kept the lead until several small runs and then a 6-0 run by the Tigers (17-10, 12-7 OVC) pushed them to an 18-16 advantage.  MSU tied the set at 18 and then went ahead 22-19, but TSU finished the set with another 6-0 run to earn the 25-22 win.

The Racers took a slight 9-6 lead at the start of the second set, before the Tigers tied the set at 11.  The teams then traded runs and serves until the score was again knotted at 17.  The Tigers then went on a 6-1 run to give them a 23-18 advantage.  The teams traded serves for the final points before TSU took the win 25-20.

The final set was a battle for control with 11 ties and two lead changes.  Most of the ties came after a 17-all tie started a back-and-forth battle on the scoreboard.  The set was so close that it was forced into extra points.  The final tie came at 26-all, but the Tigers got enough momentum to earn the 28-26 win.

While the Racers earned a 46-37 advantage in the digs column, TSU had key advantage in service aces (6-1) and blocks (7-3).

TENNESSEE TECH 3, EASTERN KENTUCKY 2
RICHMOND, Ky. - The Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky volleyball teams took part in an incredible five-set match Friday night in the Eblen Center, but it was the Golden Eagles who would walk away with the 3-2 victory.   

The Golden Eagles definitely put a consistent attack all night as three players recorded at least 12 kills with junior Kelsey Gray leading the way with 15. Gray also put up a scorching hitting percentage of .412, to go along five total blocks.

Freshman Ellen Conti followed close behind with 14 kills, including five in the final set, while sophomore Natalie Penrod added 12 kills and 14 digs. Junior Madison Comperry ran the Golden Eagle offense all night, dishing out 43 assists, while sophomore Allison May anchored the Tech defense with 27 digs.

After dropping the first set 28-26, TTU found new life as it dominated the second and third sets by the scores of 25-21 and 25-15. EKU would not go without a fight as it answered with a convincing 25-17 fourth-set victory to force a final set.

The fifth set proved to be the most competitive as both teams were tied at nine. The Colonels were able to go up 11-9, but Tech would rally with a 6-0 run to take the final set 15-11.

The Colonels were led by Ashley Edmonds 21 kills.  Freshman Alexis Plagens added 14 kills and freshman Hannah Burkle contributed 11 kills.  Freshman Dena Ott finished the night with 33 digs.

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