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MOREHEAD, Ky. -- The Morehead State volleyball team won its fourth consecutive Ohio Valley Conference regular-season championship Saturday night with a 3-2 triumph over the visiting Belmont Bruins.
The Eagles (23-6/14-0 OVC) also secured the right to host the OVC Tournament for the fourth straight season. The event will take place in Wetherby Gym on Nov. 21-23.
Morehead State extended the nation's longest conference regular-season winning streak to 36 matches. The Eagles can tie the OVC record held by Southeast Missouri with their next league win. Belmont, which had won nine straight matches entering the night, fell to 17-13 overall and 10-4 in the league.
After taking a 2-1 lead, the Eagles saw the Bruins hit .333 to win by nine in the fourth and force a deciding set. In that set, MSU smacked 10 kills and committed only one error. The host squad fell behind 5-3 in the frame but doubled-up the visitors 12-6 down the stretch to seal the victory.
Sophomore outside hitter Courtney Smith led the offense with 19 kills and a .326 attack efficiency. Senior libero Leslie Schellhaas piled up a match-best 26 digs and moved into second place on MSU's career dig list.
MSU also got 14 kills from senior outside hitter Aryn Bohannon and 12 winners via a .409 hitting percentage from junior middle blocker Laura McDermott. Bohannon had a double-double, her 11th of the season, with 14 digs. Smith produced a double-double too with 10 digs, and junior setter Colbey Cameron recorded 49 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Hannah Sigala and McDermott tied for the team lead with four blocks apiece.
Belmont middle blocker Allison McCoy tallied a team-best 15 kills and hit .357. Alex Martin recorded a match-best .550 hitting total to go along with 12 kills. Scarlet Gable came up with 15 digs.
MSU held advantages in kills (62-54) and digs (70-54), while both teams notched seven blocks.
Belmont claimed the opening set by using a 7-3 run late. Trailing 20-18, the visitors forced four Eagle hitting errors and outscored their foe by four to win by two.
The Eagles had 15 kills in the second set and added 17 in the third to win by identical scores. The second set featured a 7-2 MSU run to end the frame. The Eagles fashioned a 7-3 scoring flurry to finish off the third set. The teams were tied at five in the fourth, but the Bruins scored the next seven and never trailed again.
Morehead State hit .216 for the night and held Belmont to .176. The Bruins served up nine aces.
MSU travels to Eastern Kentucky Tuesday for a 7 p.m. ET match against the Colonels.
