LIVE STATS (BELMONT | TSU) | LIVE VIDEO (BELMONT)

MOREHEAD, Ky. -- Looking to start on the right note in its "second season," the Morehead State volleyball team hits the road to Nashville, Tenn., for a pair of matches this weekend.

The Eagles open up Ohio Valley Conference action on Friday at 7 p.m. ET at Belmont before batting Tennessee State across town on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Morehead State rolls into league play winners of three straight last weekend in Pennsylvania, upping its overall mark to 9-4.

"We feel like we pretty much finally put it all together last weekend, although in the first match we still had some things we needed to correct," said head coach Jaime Gordon. "But we feel confident heading into conference play. We certainly open up with arguably one of the best teams in Belmont and a very talented group at TSU. We will have to remain very focused in both matches."

Belmont was the favorite to win the OVC this season in the preseason vote. While the Bruins are 5-6 right now, they have lost four straight to nationally-ranked teams. Arianna Person paces the Bruin offense with 3.27 kills per set.

Tennessee State is 4-9 overall under a new head coach this year. The Tigers are led by Julia Pierson's 2.89 kills per set.

"Tennessee State is usually a tough place to play," said Gordon. "We've been in there when the whole marching band was playing and we've been in there when there just some extremely rowdy fans as well."

Morehead State's junior setter Jordan Jones credits overall team chemistry and unselfishness for the team success so far. Jones was MVP of the Red-Flash Classic last weekend and is helping to engineer mostly a 6-2 (two setter) offense along with freshman setter Chandler Clark.

"I think we are playing well together as a team," she said. "When I am on the right side hitting, I can really let Chandler be a team leader and then when I am setting I know I can step up and be that leader we need. Since I am left-handed I think it is sometimes tough for teams to defend me on the right side because they are keying their block on mostly right-handed hitters."

The two have helped the MSU attackers rank second in the conference in efficiency at .230. On the defensive side, the Eagles are the best in the league at limiting opponents' attack efforts (.153) and blocking. MSU pounds back 2.32 rejections per set.

Individually, freshman Olivia Lohmeier continues to swing the hot hand, ranking third in the conference with a .362 hitting percentage. As she has done all year so far, junior Maddie Fella leads the conference in blocks at 1.3 per set.

"Everyone is playing their roles well," said Gordon. "In the past we may have had a player who averaged more kills or whatever stat it is, but I feel like we have a very balanced team. We have a lot of options we can go to. If someone is struggling, then someone else has always stepped up."