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MOREHEAD, Ky. - Morehead State volleyball closes the 2016 regular season this weekend with contests at Tennessee State on Friday night at 7 p.m. ET and Belmont on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET.
The Eagles enter the weekend at 11-17 overall and 7-7 in OVC play, tied for sixth place with Tennessee State. They have clinched a berth in the OVC Tournament, but will look to improve their positioning entering the postseason.
"It's real important to build some momentum this weekend in Nashville. We're talking about this next week as a process. Obviously, we want to go out there and win matches, but ultimately it's about performing and getting us to a state of mind and a state of execution that will make us ready to compete in the OVC Tournament," said head coach
Jaime Gordon.
Morehead State has lost two straight following a stretch that saw them win three of four.
"We started off really well, going up two sets against EKU, but we missed some opportunities in the remaining three sets. Going 0-2 last week was disappointing, but once again it's about the process and getting hot at the right time. Hopefully for us, the right time is next week," said Gordon.
One of the strengths of this team all year long has been their defense at the net. They rank second in the OVC with 275 blocks and in consecutive weeks have had a player recognized as OVC Defensive Player of the Week. This week it was sophomore
Maddie Fella, who followed sophomore
Merideth Jewell with the honor.
Fella recorded 11 block assists in the tough five-set loss to EKU, which set a program record, and finished the week with 16.0 blocks.
"Maddie has worked hard all season and it showed with her performance this week. All 11 of her blocks against EKU were assists, which shows you that our block defense as a whole has been very strong and that everyone is contributing," said head coach
Jaime Gordon.
With 81.0 blocks on the season, Fella ranks second on the team to freshman
Karlee Reynolds, who has 125.0.
Live stats will be available for both matches and the Belmont match on Saturday afternoon will air live on the OVC Digital Network.
