Morehead, Ky. -- The Morehead State volleyball team dropped the first set then rebounded to outlast Southern Indiana in a five-set slugfest 3-2 (18-25, 25-21-25-23, 25-27, 17-15) Friday night in Liberty Arena in Evansville, Indiana.
 
Morehead State (7-8, 2-2 OVC) had a balanced attack led by senior Hollan Everett, who posted a match-high 21 kills, her third straight match with 20-plus terminations. Freshman Ella Warrick slammed 14 kills and added a match-high (and career-high) 24 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
 
Senior middle Amelia Nott added 13 kills, posting a .313 hitting percentage while turning back five total blocks up front.
 
Southern Indiana (6-9, 1-2 OVC) was led by senior outside Ashby Willis with 21 kills, sharing match honors with Morehead State's Everett. Sophomore Carley Wright posted 20 kills with a .302 hitting percentage.
 
In the fifth set, Southern Indiana answered a quick MSU start with a 5-0 run to take a 5-3 lead. The Eagles responded with two three-point runs to surge ahead 12-9. USI roared back with a 4-0 run to take the lead 13-12. Morehead State held off a match point and closed out the match with a 3-0 run.
 
After leading through most of the first set, Southern Indiana broke out of a 13-13 tie with eight straight points to take a 22-13 lead and coasted to the set win. Morehead State posted a .042 hitting percentage while USI hit .125.
 
Morehead State squared up the match in the second set. Southern Indiana took an early 6-2 lead after a five-point run. The Eagles responded with a 5-0 run of their own to edge ahead 10-8 and then outscored the Screaming Eagles 9-3 to take a 20-16 lead into the final stretch of the frame. MSU posted a .176 hitting percentage while USI hit .000.
 
The Morehead State attack revved up in the third set; the Eagles posted a .317 hitting percentage led by Nott with five kills in the frame while posting a .444 hitting percentage. The Eagles were also strong at the net with a 4-0 advantage in blocks. Freshman Haidyn Carter led the effort up front with two blocks in the frame.
 
The fourth set was tightly contested with ten ties before the technical timeout and 14 in total in the frame. Morehead State used a late 6-1 run to take a 21-19 lead over Southern Indiana. The Screaming Eagles answered with a 3-0 run to inch ahead 22-21 and outlasted MSU to send the match to the tiebreaker. Morehead State posted a .282 attack efficiency in the set to .227 for USI.
 
Morehead State and Southern Indiana will hook up again Saturday in Liberty Arena in Evansville. There is no video coverage scheduled; live stats can be seen at msueagles.com.
 
NOTABLE

• Morehead State's senior middle blocker Amelia Nott's five total blocks, gives her 301 total blocks in her career. She is the seventh Eagle in the modern era to hit the 300 total block plateau.
• MSU had a 10-8 edge in total team blocks
• Morehead State posted a .186 hitting percentage in the match; Southern Indiana hit .154.
• Service aces were even at 6-6. Tinsley Brown led Morehead State with two aces in the match.
• Southern Indiana posted a 103-97 edge in digs. MSU's Warrick led all players with a career-high 24.