Eagles Turned Away by EIU in OVC Title Tilt

Morehead, Ky. -- Morehead State battled but couldn't overcome a red-hot Eastern Illinois club and fell in straight sets (19-25, 14-25, 21-25) Tuesday night in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship match in Charleston, Illinois.
 
Morehead State (23-9, 15-3 OVC) was led on the attack by OVC Player of the Year M.E. Hargan with a match-high 16 kills. She also posted 11 digs for the 37^th double-double of her career. Junior libero Courtney Fitzgerald led the Eagles with 14 digs, tying for match honors with EIU libero Ariadna Pereles.
 
Eastern Illinois (23-9, 15-3 OVC) was led by Destiny Walker with 14 kills, hitting .312. Lilli Amettis added 12 kills while posting a .360 hitting percentage. The Panthers posted a .358 attack efficiency on the match, hitting .395 in each of the last two frames. 

Hargan and Fitzgerald were named to the All-Tournament Team. Hargan notched 52 kills in the Eagles' three matches, averaging 5.2 kills per set while posting a .250 hitting percentage. She was also credited with 36 digs, averaging 3.6 digs per set, with double-doubles in all three contests.
 
Fitzgerald posted 52 digs in the tournament, averaging 5.2 digs per set. She also smacked five service aces, finishing the season with 30, ranking third on the team.
 
In the opening set, a six-point run for Eastern Illinois gave the Panthers an early 8-4 lead. A 4-0 run put the hosts up 11-5. Morehead State clawed back into the set, cutting the EIU lead down to two points twice, but couldn't salvage the frame. The Eagles were led by Hargan and Nott with four kills apiece and posted a .147 hitting percentage. The EIU attack was led by Amettis and Walker also with four terminations each.
 
The Panthers raced out with a five-point run to start the second set. The Eagles scratched back with a five straight points of their own to tie the set at 8-8. EIU immediately responded with a 4-0 run to push the lead back to 12-8.
 
The Eagles ran off three straight points to cut the EIU lead to 13-12. The Panthers again responded to the MSU surge with a 5-1 run to push their advantage out to 18-13. EIU closed out the set with a 6-0 run to take the second set 25-14. EIU posted a .395 hitting percentage in the set; MSU hit .093.
 
The third set was tightly contested early. A four-point EIU run erased a two-point MSU lead and put the Panthers ahead 11-9. Later, the Eagles ran off three-straight, capped by a Tinsley Brown ace, to tie the score at 16-16. After the teams trading points, the Panthers closed out the match outscoring the Eagles 5-1.
 
NOTABLE/MILESTONES

• EIU had a 6.5-3 edge in total blocks. EIU's Anaya Rawlinson led with five block assists.
• EIU had a 4-3 edge in service aces. Amelia Nott notched two to tie EIU's Walker for match honors.
• Setter Sydney Sennett finished with 30 assists on the night, giving her 1,089 assists this season which ranks 8^th in the modern era in the MSU record book. She surpassed the career 2,000-assist threshold in the first set. She now has 2,022 career assists.
• Sennett posted 119 assists for the tournament, averaging 11.9 assists per set.
• Hargan finishes her career in the top-10 in the MSU Record Book for the modern era in seven statistical categories: 493 kills this season (3^rd-most); 1,488 career kills (3^rd); 4,282 total attacks (2^nd); 98 aces (10^th); 956 digs (10^th); 36 block solos (10^th); 439 sets played (10^th)
• Nott finished the season with a .350 hitting percentage, the second-highest efficiency in the modern era at MSU. Her career .289 hitting percentage to-date ranks second.
• Fitzgerald finished the season with 456 digs, the 10^th-highest tally in the modern era at Morehead State. Her 989 career digs rank 8^th.
• Hollan Everett finished the season with 335 kills, giving her 841 career terminations (25 kills shy of 10^th in the modern era at MSU). Her 2,575 total attacks rank 8^th. Her 21 block solos this season ties her for 9^th  and her 39 career block solos rank 6^th in the modern era.