Click here for the tournament web site
Click here for live stats
Click here for live video broadcast from OVCSports.TV

Tournament Bracket

RICHMOND, Ky. – Eastern Kentucky’s volleyball team will take a four-match winning streak into an Ohio Valley Conference tournament first round match-up against Morehead State University on Thursday in Jacksonville, Ala. The match is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET.

The sixth seeded Colonels (10-18, 9-9 OVC) are the hottest team in the conference. Of the six teams in the tournament, three are on losing streaks and three are on winning streaks. Only Austin Peay’s three-match winning streak comes close to EKU’s four in a row. Eastern has won six of its last eight matches.

Entering the final week of play, Eastern Kentucky needed to win its final four matches and get help from Southeast Missouri. SEMO lost on Tuesday and Friday to keep Eastern’s hopes alive. The Colonels took care of business on Tuesday, beating Tennessee State on the road. EKU was then faced with the task of having to win three matches in three days.

The Colonels handed Jacksonville State its first conference loss of the season on Friday and then avenged a 3-0 loss earlier this season to Tennessee Tech on Saturday. After the match against Tech, the team boarded a bus for Evansville for a make-up match against Eastern Illinois.

Eastern Kentucky clinched a spot in the league tournament by beating the Panthers 3-2 on Sunday.

Autumn Harms led Eastern with 18 kills against EIU. She made only one error in 30 attempts for a .567 attack percentage and had three blocks. Lauren Snyder finished with 14 kills, nine digs and five blocks. Lindsey Loescher and Hannah Groudle each registered 11 kills. Groudle also had six blocks. Kate Hendle posted 51 assists.

Snyder leads the team with 326 kills and is sixth in the conference with an average of 3.23 kills per set. She is tied for the team lead with 25 aces, averages 2.19 digs per set and has 28 blocks. Loescher is second on the team with 297 kills (2.91 per set). She also has 25 aces and averages 2.19 digs per set.

Harms has a team-best 59 blocks and averages 2.39 kills per set. Groudle has 58 blocks and is ninth in the conference with a .268 attack percentage. Hendle leads EKU with 996 assists and ranks sixth in the OVC with an average of 9.76 per set.

During Eastern’s four-match winning streak, Snyder has averaged 3.29 kills per set, Loescher has averaged 3.12 kills and 2.47 digs per set, and Harms has averaged 2.76 kills and 0.94 blocks per set. Hendle has averaged 10.88 assists per set during the win streak.

Morehead State (19-10, 11-6 OVC) and EKU met twice this season. The Eagles won 3-0 in Richmond on Sept. 24 and took a 3-1 victory in Morehead on Oct. 22.

MSU is 2-3 in its last five matches. Morehead State ended its regular season with a 3-1 loss at home to Jacksonville State.

Kaitlin Craven leads the team with an average of 3.17 kills per set. Annie Gruenschlaeger has 150 blocks and leads the OVC with an average of 1.38 per set. Emma Keough has 120 blocks and averages 2.15 kills per set. Four Eagles have 30-plus aces led by Craven and Kristie Brangers with 31 each.