Volleyball opens OVC play at home against TSU, Belmont

GAME NOTES | LIVE VIDEO ( TENNESSEE STATE ) | LIVE STATS ( TSU | BELMONT )

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Following a rigorous non-conference schedule, the Morehead State volleyball team (3-11) opens OVC conference play this weekend at Wetherby Gym. On Friday night, they take on Tennessee State (5-7) at 7 p.m. and then close the weekend against Belmont (3-8) at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

With just three wins in their first 14 games, things haven't gone as well as hoped so far this year, but the Eagles are anxious for a fresh start in conference play.

"We're excited to get started with conference play. This is what you prepare for. This is what the non-conference schedule is all about," said head coach Jaime Gordon. "We have some lessons learned through our first four weeks of the season. Now we have an opportunity to apply it come Friday and Saturday."

One of the things that has hampered Morehead State throughout the season is slow starts. On Tuesday against Wright State, they fell victim to a slow start in the first set, falling behind by as many as seven. But, they were able to fight back and win the set before eventually falling to the Raiders, 3-1.

"We talk to our team about not letting the last play affect you, you have to really be in the moment," said Gordon. "There are times when we haven't really done that well, which has created some negative momentum for us. So that's where we've kind of got caught in those runs early on. But, at the same time our team has shown a lot of character and resiliency in being able to fight back. But, the last chapter is once you fight back, you have to finish it off. We've put ourselves in position to finish it off and at times we've just fallen a little short."

Despite their early struggles, Gordon is optimistic that the Eagles will find their groove in OVC play. And if history is any indication, then that very well could be true as Morehead State has won the OVC Regular Season Championship in four of the past five years.

"It's a matter of consistency," said Gordon. "We've talked about how we have pistons and sometimes this one is firing and this one is not. And then in the next match this area is working for us and this one is not. It's a matter of getting everything tuned up together consistently. When we do, we have a really good product out there. Our team is working extremely hard and I have all of the confidence that we will get everything firing at the same time."

One thing that could help with that consistency is the emergence of the freshman class. Throughout the preseason, Gordon talked about his team's mixture of youth and experience. A little over a month into the season and that youth is really starting to contribute.

"There are a lot of times when we have four freshmen on the floor," said Gordon. "But, we are four weeks into the season now, so there's no more inexperience. They have experience under their belt and we just need to make sure that we are applying the things that we learn from match to match."

The emergence of freshman Merideth Jewell, the three-time OVC Newcomer of the Year, has been well documented, but over the last week we witnessed the potential of fellow freshman Jordan Jones. She was named to the Comfort Inn-Vitational All-Tournament team after recording 91 assists and 17 kills in three matches, and it was her presence that led the Eagles to a come-from-behind win over Akron.

Jewell enters Friday's contest with 250 kills, which ranks fifth in the country. Her 4.55 kills-per-set rank 12th in the NCAA and her 5.14 points-per-set rank 13th.

The match against Tennessee State on Friday will air live on the OVC Digital Network and MSUEagles.com will have live stats for both matches. Follow @MSUEaglesLive on twitter for in-game updates.