OVC First Round Preview

No. 7 Belmont (9-19, 7-11 OVC) vs. No. 2 Morehead State (18-11, 14-4 OVC)

Thursday, Nov. 18 | 12:30 pm CT

ESPN+ | Live Stats | Match Notes

Houck Field House | Cape Girardeau, Mo.

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Beginning postseason play, Belmont University volleyball travels to Cape Giradeau, Mo., this week for a Thursday matchup with No. 2 seed Morehead State in the First Round of the OVC Championship.

Belmont is the No. 7 seed, and will take on the Eagles at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday at Houck Field House on the campus of Southeast Missouri State. SEMO clinched the No. 1 seed and the right to host this year's tournament by virtue of holding the head-to-head tiebreak over Morehead State.

The match will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Graham Doty and Alex Gould on the call. Live stats will also be available on the OVC website, and on the official app of Belmont Athletics.

The winner of Thursday's First Round game will play the winner of No. 3 seed Austin Peay and No. 6 seed Tennessee Tech on Friday in the semifinals at 3 p.m. CT at Houck Field House.

Bracket | Tournament Central

What's Bruin

• The Bruins are in the OVC Championship tournament for the first time since 2017, as the OVC expanded the championship to include eight teams this year from the previous number of four.
• In their last appearance, Belmont fell, 3-2, to Eastern Kentucky in the First Round of the OVC Championship in 2017
• The Bruins have twice won the OVC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament
• In 2012, Belmont's first year in the league, the Bruins took down Eastern Illinois in the quarterfinals, Southeast Missouri in the semifinals, and top-seeded Morehead State in the title match for their first OVC tournament championship
• In 2015, the Bruins took down Morehead State in the quarterfinal, Tennessee Tech in the semifinal, and top-seeded Murray State in the championship match
• Both times the Bruins have advanced to the NCAA Tournament, they have drawn Louisiville in the First Round
• Belmont is coming off a pair of tight five-set losses to Tennessee Tech this past weekend
• On Friday, after falling behind 2-0, the Bruins rallied to win the next two sets and force a decisive Game 5, which the Golden Eagles won, 15-9
• On Saturday, the Bruins and Golden Eagles traded sets until Tennessee Tech was able to pull out the win in Game 5, 15-13, on Belmont's Senior Day
• Taylor Floyd leads the Bruins in kills (269) and points (312)
• Izzy Schauer and Carly Mason have formed an outstanding duo at setter in Belmont's 6-2 system, combining for 938 assists this season. On Saturday against Tennessee Tech, the Bruins finished with their highest attack percentage of the season (.329)
• Rachel McBride currently ranks fifth in the OVC in digs (4.03 per set)

 About the Eagles

• After dropping their first two conference matches, Morehead State rattled off 14 straight wins in OVC play, and were 14-2 entering the final weekend of the regular season
• The Eagles needed to beat SEMO just once this past weekend in Cape Girardeau to secure the No. 1 seed, but the Redhawks swept them on both Friday and Saturday, creating a tie for the regular season championship with both teams at 14-4.
• Morehead State is holding opponents to a .175 attack percentage, the second-lowest mark in the league
• Olivia Lohmeier is second in the OVC in kills, averaging 4.03 per set
• Bridget Bessler is second in the OVC in assists, averaging 10.79 per set

 Series History

• Thursday's matchup against Morehead State will be the 24^th meeting between the two programs
• Morehead State leads the all-time series, 14-9
• Belmont is 2-0 against Morehead State in OVC Tournament action, taking down Morehead State in both the 2012 title match and in the quarterfinal round in 2015
• Both times that Belmont has faced Morehead State in the OVC Tournament, the Bruins have gone on to win both of their OVC Tournament Championships