Morehead, Ky.-- Morehead State used a balanced attack and another strong net presence to sweep Lindenwood 3-0 (25-19, 27-25, 25-23) Saturday afternoon in Hyland Arena in St. Charles, Mo.
Morehead State (11-5, 5-0 OVC) was led by
Sarah Heath, who posted a career-high 14 kills hitting .333.
M.E. Hargan finished with 11 kills, hitting .233. The Eagles posted a 5-4 edge in blocks.
Hollan Everett,
Amelia Nott and
Bailey Brashear each tallied two total blocks on the day.
Lindenwood (6-9, 2-5 OVC) got three straight aces from Alayna Rudebeck to kick off the match to take an early 3-0 lead. Morehead State went on a 5-point run to go ahead 13-8. The Lions responded by outscoring the Eagles 8-3 to tie the set at 16. Nott slapped back-to-back service aces to move the Eagles ahead 22-18 and MSU was able to close out the set on
Sarah Heath's fourth kill of the frame.
The second set was tight from the start: there were 12 ties before the Eagles were able to take back-to-back points to inch ahead 14-12. The Eagles went on a three-point run to move ahead 17-13, highlighted by Nott's third service ace of the afternoon. The Lions responded with a three-point run to tie the set at 19. The Eagles held off one Lion set point and closed out the set with a three-point run to go up 2-0. In all, there were 16 ties and nine lead changes in the frame.
The third frame was closely contested as well. The Eagles got a three-point run to get some breathing room at 14-9. Lindenwood held off six set points before Morehead State clinched it with a Lindenwood service error. Â
The Lions were led by Kylee Richey with 12 kills. Autumn Bax added 11, and Ashley Geluck posted 10 terminations.
Morehead State returns to action Thursday night in Johnson Arena as they kick off a two-match conference series with long-time OVC foe Tennessee State. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
NOTABLE
- The last time Morehead State started conference play with five straight wins was back in the spring of 2021, when the OVC played a conference-only schedule in response to the COVID pandemic. That season, the Eagles ran off 14 straight wins en route to a 15-1 record and an OVC title. That postseason saw the Eagles beat Creighton in the opening round of the NCAA tournament.
- MSU finished with a 59-54 edge in digs. Courtney Fitzgerald led the Eagles with a match-high 19.
- Lindenwood finished with six service aces to four for MSU. Amelia Nott smacked a season-high three.
- Sydney Sennett posted 37 assists, her second-highest total in a three-set match and tied for fourth in a three-set match in the OVC this season. She set the season standard in the OVC back on September 30, when she notched 44 assists in MSU's sweep at Tennessee State. Sennett is averaging 9.49 assists per set this season.
- M.E. Hargan's 11 kills in the match raised her career total to 1,246: that's in third place in the program's record books for the modern era. She needs 13 kills to move past Aryn Bohannon for third place on the kills list.
