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MURRAY, Ky. – The EKU volleyball team will make its 29th appearance in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament as the 2016 tournament gets underway at Murray State University on Thursday.
The Colonels (14-14, 9-7 OVC) hold the No. 5 seed and have a date with the No. 4 seed and defending OVC Tournament champion Belmont University (16-11, 10-6 OVC) in the first round. Thursday's match is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. ET first serve.
Eastern fell to the Bruins in both meetings this year with both matches finishing in 3-2 losses. Junior
Celina Sanks averaged 3.10 kills-per-set for the Colonels in the first two matches. Defensively, junior libero
Mallory Maxwell's 53 digs led the Colonels' defense.
Freshman
Rachel Woody notched a triple-double in the earlier meeting at McBrayer Arena, finishing with 12 kills, 22 assists, and 13 digs. Woody added 44 assists and 13 digs in last week's meeting.
Junior outside hitter
Nikki Drost also turned in a double-double in the first meeting with the Bruins. Drost finished with 11 kills and 16 digs.
The Colonels will have to stifle Arianna Person's 3.89 kills-per-set average, third best in the OVC. The Bruins hold their opponents to a .159 hitting percentage on the season which is second in the league. Belmont's 1.92 service aces-per-set lead the conference.
In the first two meetings, the Colonels combined for eight aces to 10 by Belmont.
EKU leads the league with nine OVC tournament titles and has clinched a berth in four consecutive tournaments.
