Morehead, Ky. – Morehead State had four players register double-digit kills and ran their record to 11-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with a four-set win (28-26, 26-24, 21-25, 25-17) over the Little Rock Trojans in the Jack Stephens Center in Little Rock, Ark., Friday night.
Morehead State (17-5, 11-0 OVC) was led offensively by senior
M.E. Hargan, who posted 21 kills with 19 digs (both match highs) for her 3
1st career double-double, and recorded a .269 attack percentage. She also posted seven total blocks, tying teammate
Amelia Nott for match honors.
Junior
Hollan Everett set a new career high with 17 kills, one shy of tying her career high for terminations, and posted a .455 attack efficiency. Junior middle
Amelia Nott slammed a season-high 12 kills, hitting .435 with two service aces and those seven blocks. Senior
Sarah Heath added 10 kills for the Eagles.
Junior setter
Sydney Sennett set a new career high with 49 assists, running an Eagle offense that hit .284 in the match. Sennett also collected 11 digs for her 20th career double-double.
Little Rock (11-12, 6-5 OVC) got off to a fast start in the first set: a 6-0 run gave the Trojans an early 9-4 lead. A five-point run put the hosts up 14-7. Morehead State battled back: a pair of three-point runs set up the Eagles to shave the Little Rock lead to 21-20. The teams traded points, the Eagles held off two Little Rock set points and
Amelia Nott closed out the first frame with her third kill of the match. The Eagles hit .196 in the opening frame, while Little Rock, hot early, cooled off to hit just .130 in the opening set.
The second set was tightly contested from the start. The teams traded points, and the score was tied at every digit from one through 10. Little Rock used a 3-0 run to take a 12-10 lead, but Morehead State rallied with a three-point run of their own to go ahead 13-12. Little Rock, down 15-14 at the set break, rallied with a six-point run to take a 20-15 lead in the set. MSU fought back with a three point run to trim the lead to 23-22. The Eagles held off two Little Rock set points and took the frame on three straight terminations by Hargan.
Little Rock started quickly again in the third set running off the first three points. Another 3-0 run put the Trojans up 7-3. The Eagles responded with a 4-0 run on two kills by
Sarah Heath and two blocks by the tandem of Hargan and Nott to cut the Trojan lead to 13-11. The Trojans ran off three straight points to extend the lead to 18-12 before MSU was able to force a side out. Little Rock outlasted the Eagles to take the third set 25-21. The Trojans hit .361 in the set to .316 for MSU. Little Rock hit .361 in the frame to .316 for Morehead State.
The fourth set was again tightly contested early. Little Rock rode a three-point run to take an early 4-1 lead. The teams traded points and side outs until MSU took a 12-9 after a four-point run. A 5-0 Eagle run extended the Morehead State lead to 17-11 as Morehead State cruised to a 25-17 set win. The Eagles hit .333 in the final frame, recorded four aces and notched four blocks to close out the match.
Little Rock's attack was led by Sophia Garrido, who posted a career-high 16 kills. Crismeyli Rodriguez added 14 for the Trojans, who have now lost five straight matches.
The Eagles and the Trojans square off in the series finale tomorrow at the Jack Stephens Center at 1:00 ET. The match can be seen on ESPN+.
NOTABLE
- Morehead State was stout at the net, leading Little Rock 11-5 in total blocks. Nott set a new season high with her seven rejections, while Hargan just missed her career high of eight set on October 16th against Tennessee Tech in Johnson Arena.
- Little Rock had a 9-8 edge in service aces. The Trojans' A'lanae Margaritha slugged four aces for match honors. Tinsley Brown led MSU with three. Brown now has 22 aces this season; 14 of those have come in conference play. Brown ranks 2nd in the OVC in aces in league play. Nott is tied with Hargan with 28 aces on the season for the team lead.
- Hargan has now posted six 20-kill matches this season. She has piled up 1,341 kills in her career, which ranks third in the 25-point rally scoring era in the Morehead State record book.
- With her 17 kills Friday, Everett finds herself with 749 career terminations. She has recorded double-digit kills in all but six matches this season.
