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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player Allison McCoy totaled 16 kills and 10 blocks as the third-seeded Belmont Bruins upset the Morehead State volleyball team 3-1 (13-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-22) in the championship match of the OVC Tournament at Wetherby Gym.
MSU dropped to 26-7, while Belmont, which won the title in its first year of competing in the OVC, upped its mark to 18-15. Belmont earned the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The setback ended the nation's longest winning streak at 24.
MSU senior Aryn Bohannon, who was named to the all-tournament team, had a team-high 19 kills to lead four players in double figure kills. The Bruins finished with 13 blocks. Scarlet Gable also added six rejections for the Bruins.
Eagle senior middle blocker Annie Gruenschlaeger tallied 12 kills, while senior right side hitter Ellie Roberson and sophomore middle blocker Laura McDermott had 10 each. Roberson was part of an 11-block night for the Eagles with a team-high six. McDermott added five swats, and Gruenschlaeger matched that.
McCoy, a middle hitter, smacked 16 winners on 27 swings and made only one error for a .556 hitting percentage. Jocelyn Youngdahl had 12 kills, and Jen Myer notched 10 along with three blocks. Jamie Lundstrom paced all players with 25 digs.
Eagle junior libero Leslie Schellhaas, also earning all-tournament accolades, notched 20 digs tonight and went above 600 digs in a season for the second straight year. She set the MSU single-season mark with 641 last year and is at 619 this season.
The Eagles hit .340 in the opening set and cruised to the 12-point win. But Belmont's defense rose up for the rest of the night. The Bruins forced the Eagles to hit 70 points below their season average while hitting .227 themselves, which is nearly 90 points above MSU's season defensive average for attack efficiency.
The Eagles will now have to wait and see if they'll be awarded an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. If not, it marked the final match for seniors Bohannon, Clark, Gruenschlaeger and Roberson.
Roberson would finish seventh in school career history with 1,521 kills. Clark will sit at seventh in career assists at 2,551. Gruenschlaeger already set the MSU career bock assist record and sits at 403. She also tallied 492 total blocks in her tenure. Bohannon ranks among the school's all-time leaders in aces at 135.
