Little Rock set for quarterfinal showdown as OVC Volleyball Championship begins

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Missouri — The Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship begins Sunday in Cape Girardeau, Mo with Little Rock opening the quarterfinal round against Tennessee Tech in a match scheduled for 1 pm at Houck Field House. All tournament games can be streamed live on ESPN+. Little Rock (16-15) enters as the No. 6 seed after dropping four of its last five matches, a trend they'll look to stop against the No. 3 Golden Eagles (23-7), a team the Trojans swept a road conference series from back in late-October.
 
THE CHAMPIONSHIP FIELD
The tournament begins Sunday with a 10 am matchup between No. 2 Lindenwood and No. 7 SIUE. Following the Little Rock-Tennessee Tech matchup at 1 pm, OVC regular season champion SEMO will face No. 8 Tennessee State at 4 pm, and the quarterfinal round concludes with No. 4 Morehead State vs No. 5 Western Illinois at 7 pm. Monday's semifinals pit the 2v7 winner vs the 3v6 winner at 2 pm, followed by the 1v8 winner against the 4v5 winner at 5 pm. The championship game is slated for Tuesday at 6 pm with the winner earning the NCAA automatic qualifying bid. For more OVC Volleyball Championship info, visit https://ovcsports.com/tournaments/?id=45.
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Several individuals are chasing milestones and the Trojans can reach some new program marks depending on how far they can play into the tournament. First Team All-OVC selection Jeila Fullerton is just 15.5 points shy of 1,000 for her career, Jaycee Kennedy is one block short of 100 for the season, and Second Team All-OVC selection Andrea Roman is 76 digs from 1,000 in her two-year career. As a team, Little Rock is 0.5 blocks shy of reaching No. 10 in the program record book for a single-season, five aces from No. 10, 76 kills from climbing to No. 7 for a single year, and 47 assists from No. 5. This year's team already owns the program record for total digs, currently at 2,227.

SERIES HISTORY
Little Rock is 4-3 all-time against Tennessee Tech and has won the last three meetings, including a pair of 3-1 wins over the Golden Eagles last month in Cookeville, Tenn. In the series, the Trojans are 2-2 on the road, 1-1 at home and 1-0 on neutral floors. In their current three-game win streak over Tennessee Tech, Little Rock has won nine sets to just two for the Golden Eagles.
 
TENNESSEE TECH – FIRST LOOK
Madolyn Isringhausen led three Golden Eagles who picked up All-OVC honors this morning, being named OVC Player of the Year. Junior setter Jordan Karlen was also named to the First Team and freshman outside hitter Alayna Pierce was a Second Team pick. Isringhausen leads the OVC in kills with 338 and points with 388 during conference play, Karlen ranks third with 745 assists and Pierce is 10^th in the league with almost three kills per set. They enter the tournament with more momentum than anyone, having won seven straight games to finish 12-6 in OVC play after a 5-6 start.