MARTIN, Tenn.- University of Southern Indiana Volleyball earns the victory in four sets over the University of Tennessee at Martin Saturday afternoon, securing the tenth Ohio Valley Conference win of the season.
The team moves to 14-12 overall and 10-4 in conference play, officially earning their spot in the OVC tournament with the first UT Martin win on Friday night.
Set 1: UTM 25, USI 15
The Screaming Eagles had a tough start, allowing the Skyhawks to go on an 8-1 scoring run in the beginning of the set that they couldn’t recover from. Freshman Aysa Thomas dished out six assists, five digs, and snuck in one kill. Three Eagles landed two kills each, junior McKenzie Murphy led with no errors to hit .667 percent.
Set 2: USI 25, UTM 18
After earning the first point with a kill from freshman Carley Wright, the Eagles maintained the lead for the entirety of the set. The USI momentum was helped with a five-point scoring run from Ashby Willis, including an ace from the junior. Outside hitter Leah Coleman led the team with six kills, making just one error to hit a .417 percentage. The Eagle offense had their most efficient set of the game, hitting 19 kills with just four errors for a .357 percentage.
Set 3: USI 25, UTM 18
With some back and forth at the start of the set, the Screaming Eagles took control of the game at the 15th point. Willis went on another six-point serving run to help swing the point advantage for the Eagles. Senior Bianca Anderson led the offense with four kills and no errors. Sophomore libero Audrey Small had her best set, picking up 10 digs, which helped keep the Skyhawk offense to their least efficient set.
Set 4: USI 25, UTM 19
The Eagles ended the game on a 9-1 scoring run, with sophomore Kerigan Fehr serving eight times, including an ace. Willis led the court with five kills in the final set, followed by Coleman, who added another four to her tally. Small kept the back court alive, picking up 10 more digs.
For the game, Willis and Thomas both finished with double-doubles. Willis recorded a game-high 14 kills and 12 digs, and Thomas with 44 assists and also had 12 digs. Leading the court, Small tied her season-high with 26 digs.
The team finished with 80 digs for 20 digs per set. As a team, USI put up eight blocks, Anderson and Willis each tallied five block assists, and Murphy earned the lone solo block for the team. Five Eagles landed an ace from the service line, and Fehr led with two.
The Screaming Eagles are back home in Liberty Arena next week on November 13th and 14th for an OVC series against Lindenwood University. Fans can follow USI Athletics on Facebook, Instagram, and X for game coverage, as well as online at usiscreamingeagles.com.
