Eagles Sweep Skyhawks with Solid Defensive Effort

Morehead, Ky. -- Morehead State suffocated the UT Martin attack and swept the Skyhawks (25-11, 25-19, 25-9) to clinch at least the second seed in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference tournament that begins Sunday.

Morehead State (20-8, 14-3 OVC) held the Skyhawks to a -.153 hitting percentage while posting a .325 attack efficiency of their own. Senior Bailey Brashear set a new career high with eight total blocks, and set a new season high with three block solos.

Senior M.E. Hargan led the MSU attack with 14 kills, hitting .370. Junior Hollan Everett finished with eight kills and fellow junior Amelia Nott added seven.

The Eagles jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead in the opening set, led by Hargan with three kills and a service ace, her 36^th of the season. A four-point MSU run put the Eagles ahead 17-6; the Eagles ran off another five straight to go up 23-9 and closed out the set with Everett's fourth termination of the opening set. Brashear led the way at the net with three blocks including a block solo. The Eagles posted a sparkling .419 hitting percentage in the set.

The second set played very differently as the score was close through the early stages of the frame. The Eagles ran out to an early 3-0 lead. The Skyhawks responded by taking five of the next six points to go ahead 5-4. A three-point run by UTM put the Skyhawks ahead 15-13 at the technical timeout.

MSU roared out of the break with a 7-0 run, highlighted by two Hargan kills, two MSU blocks and was capped by a service ace by setter Sydney Sennett, to break away at 20-15. Morehead State finished off the set with a 4-1 run, highlighted by two Everett kills and Amelia Nott's fourth termination of the match. MSU posted a .409 attack efficiency in the set.

UT Martin (4-24, 3-14 OVC) was led by senior Kayla Bryant with just five kills. Bryant also added two service aces, giving her 44 on the season.

Morehead State and UT Martin will wrap up the regular season Wednesday at noon at Johnson Arena. The game can be seen on ESPN+.

NOTABLE

• UTM's -.153 hitting percentage was the lowest since at least the 2011 season for any MSU opponent. It was the first time the Eagles held an opponent to a negative percentage since MSU held Southern Indiana to a -.009 efficiency last November 19 in Johnson Arena.
• Morehead State finished the match with an 11-9 advantage in total blocks. Brashear's career marks paced the Eagles. Hargan and Nott finished with two block assists each. UT Martin's Kristin Phillips had six total blocks, including two block solos for the Skyhawks. UTM's Carly Mueller finished with five blocks, including one block solo.
• MSU had a 5-3 advantage in service aces. Hargan, Nott, Sennett, Tinsley Brown and Courtney Fitzgerald each recorded an ace for the Eagles. MSU has smacked 167 aces this season.
• Morehead State had a 44-29 advantage in digs. Fitzgerald led the match with 19. She now has 929 career gets, which ranks 8^th in the MSU record book for the modern era.