Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State volleyball team ran their record to 9-0 in the OVC with a sweep (28-26, 25-22, 25-21) over Southeast Missouri in Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau Friday night.
Morehead State (15-5, 9-0 OVC) was led by
M.E. Hargan with a season-high 23 kills, hitting a .435 attack percentage.
Hollan Everett added 12 terminations with a .476 efficiency. The Eagles posted a .323 attack percentage, their sixth match of the season with a .300+ efficiency.
Southeast Missouri (12-11, 4-5 OVC) was paced by Lucy Arndt with 12 kills. Freshman Katy St. John added 10 kills for the Redhawks, who have lost four straight matches. SEMO has now lost four straight matches.
The match opened tightly contested with 13 ties into the middle stage of the frame. Morehead State went on a three-point run to go ahead 15-14 into the set break. The Eagles went on a four-point run to stretch the lead to 21-17. SEMO rallied with a 3-0 run to close within a point 21-20. After a MSU point on Hargan's fifth kill of the set, the Redhawks ran off four straight points to go ahead 24 22. Two kills- by Hargan tied up the set 24-24. The Eagles held off four set points before clinching the set 28-26. MSU hit .348 in the opening frame led by Hargan's eight kills.
The Eagles heated up early in the second set, taking an early 4-1 lead, capped by an ace by libero
Courtney Fitzgerald. Morehead State ran off a five-point run, highlighted by two service aces by Hargan, to stretch the lead to 10-3. The Eagles slammed four service aces in the set. After a 4-0 SEMO run to get to within two at 16-14, the Eagles responded with a five-point run to stretch their lead to 21-14. Everett's ninth kill of the match clinched the set for MSU. The Eagles hit .292 in the frame and edged SEMO 5-3 in blocks.
Morehead State got out in front in the third set 6-3 with an early four-point run. Later in the frame, another 4-0 run put the Eagles in front 15-8. The Redhawks rallied with a five-point run to close to 18-16. The Eagles closed out the set and the match outscoring Southeast Missouri 4-1, with Hargan slamming three terminations in the final five points of the match.
Morehead State and Southeast Missouri will wrap up the series Saturday at Houck Field House at 3:00 p.m., ET. The match can be seen on ESPN+.
NOTABLE
- Morehead State hit .323 on the match with 55 kills on 130 attacks. SEMO finished with 40 kills from 108 swings, hitting .250.
- SEMO had a 49-48 edge in digs. MSU's libero Fitzgerald notched a match-high 14 digs. SEMO's libero Nina Schuberth led the Redhawks with 12 digs.
- Morehead State smacked six service aces, compared to three for SEMO. Hargan posted a match-high two aces, giving her 23 on the season, the second-most on the club.
- Morehead State and Southeast Missouri tied with six total blocks for each club.
- Hollan Everett posted three blocks, including two block solos, which matched her career-high. She and Hargan are tied for team honors with 16 block solos apiece.
- Amelia Nott tied teammate Everett and SEMO's Alaina Lester and Lucy Arndt with three total blocks for match honors. Nott has posted 49 total blocks on the season, which is second on the team.
- Sydney Sennett finished with 41 assists, an average of 13.67 assists per set. She is averaging 9.69 assists per set this season.
- Morehead native Bailey Brashear matched her season-high with six kills. She took nine swings with no errors for a .667 attack percentage.
