Morehead, Ky.-- The Morehead State volleyball team prevailed over top-seeded and host Southeast Missouri 3-1 Monday night in the semi-finals of the Ohio Valley Conference volleyball tournament. After dropping the first set to SEMO 25-23, the Eagles ran off three straight sets; 25-22, 25-20, and 27-25. The Morehead State attack was relentless; the Eagles hit .298 for the match and dominated at the net with 12 blocks to six for Southeast Missouri.
With the win, Morehead State advances to the OVC tournament finals tomorrow evening. The Eagles will take on the tournament's two seed, Lindenwood, which advanced in the first semi-final with a five-set win over the third seed Tennessee Tech. The tournament final match can be seen on ESPN+. The match is scheduled for 7:00 ET. A quirk in the NCAA rules means that Morehead State is guaranteed a berth in the NCAA tournament, due to Lindenwood's status as still transitioning from Division II to Division I athletics.
The Eagles got a lot of production from the right side of the court. Graduate student Irene Wogenstahl slammed a career-high-tying 21 kills, hitting a season-high .462 attack percentage. Senior Macy Welborn piled on a season-high 20 kills, just missing tying her career high, hitting .413.
Morehead State (18-13/ 12-6 OVC) also got 11 kills and 12 digs from junior M.E. Hargan, the 19th double/double of her career. Senior Peighton Isley led the Eagles with 23 digs; sophomore Courtney Fitzgerald added 17 digs, tying her career high.
Setters Brenna Bommer and Sydney Sennett also recorded double/doubles. Bommer was credited with 24 assists and 12 digs for her 15th career double/double. Sennett posted 25 assists and 10 digs for her 10th career double/double. Sophomore Amelia Nott had another big match, leading all players with seven blocks and added two service aces.
Southeast Missouri (19-13/15-3 OVC) was led by sophomore Lucy Arndt with 19 kills and 17 digs. Last year's freshman of the year also had a match-high four service aces. Abby Johnson added 13 kills for the Redhawks.
The first set was tightly contested. SEMO took a 15-13 to the media break, then rode a 4-2 run to take a 19-15 lead, then extended the advantage to 23-19. The Eagles then ran off four straight, using two kills by Maycie Welborn and a block up front. A service ace broke the string, giving SEMO a set point. The Eagles out-hit the Redhawks .231 to .195. They tallied five blocks to three for SEMO in the opening frame.
Set two was controlled by Morehead State early in the set. The Eagles took a 15-10 lead into the media break. SEMO responded with a 6-2 run to get to within a point of MSU at 17-16. The Eagles got a three-point run to make it 20-17 punctuated by a Hargan service ace. Morehead State closed the set out with Wogenstahl's 12th kill of the match and an attack error by SEMO, to square the match. MSU out-hit SEMO .311 to .146 in the frame and tallied four blocks in the frame.
The third set opened with Morehead State able to get an early 5-4 lead. SEMO ran off a five-point run, finally ended by Welborn's 10th kill of the match. The Eagles then went on a 3-0 run punctuated by Sydney Wyman's 28th ace of the season. SEMO outscored the Eagles 6-2 to go to the set break up 15-10.
After the break, MSU outscored SEMO 8-4 to get within a point of the Redhawks at 19-18. After losing a point, the Eagles ran off seven straight points to take the set with Wogenstahl's 15th kill of the night on set point giving the Eagles the set win to up 2-1 in the match.
In set four, the Redhawks took an early 4-2 advantage. MSU responded with a 7-1 run to make it 9-5 and led to a SEMO timeout. The teams traded points for a stretch and Wyman's fourth kill of the match made it 19-14 Morehead State.
SEMO responded with a 3-0 run, which was snapped by Wogenstahl's 20th kill of the match to make it 20-17. The Redhawks again responded with another three-point run highlighted by Lucy Arndt's fourth service ace of the match. SEMO's run was ended with Wogenstahl's 21st kill of the night. The teams traded points and side outs from that point, with ties at every digit from 20 to 25. On Morehead State's third match point at 26-25, M.E. Hargan secured the victory with her 11th kill of the match.
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