UT MARTIN BEACH VOLLEYBALL IN PURSUIT OF SECOND STRAIGHT OVC CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON SWEEP THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS

Thursday, April 27

Martin, Tenn.

5 p.m.

UT Martin

#4 Seed Tennessee Tech

UT MARTIN BEACH VOLLEYBALL IN PURSUIT OF SECOND STRAIGHT OVC CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON SWEEP THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS

4/26/2023 8:08:00 AM | Beach Volleyball

Championship Central

MARTIN, Tenn. – One year after becoming the first Ohio Valley Conference program to claim both the beach volleyball regular season and tournament championships, the University of Tennessee at Martin will look to repeat the same feat when it hosts the 2023 OVC Championship at the Skyhawk Beach Volleyball Complex.

The six-team, 10-match event runs from Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29 as Chattanooga, Morehead State, Tennessee Tech, Lindenwood and Eastern Illinois will challenge UT Martin for the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. There will be a $5 daily admission while students with a valid school ID can get in free. The first 250 students to attend the Skyhawks' tournament-opening match on Thursday (slated to start at 5 p.m.) will receive a free pair of sunglasses.

UT Martin enters the OVC Championship on a mission as the program is looking to add more history to its record-setting spring. The Skyhawks have already become the first OVC program to win back-to-back regular season championships behind an OVC-record 24 victories against just eight setbacks. UT Martin is the first-ever OVC squad to complete an undefeated run through the league schedule (10-0) and won an astonishing 48 of its 50 head-to-head matchups against OVC competition. The Skyhawks knocked off a pair of nationally ranked opponents and have received votes in each of the last three American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Beach Coaches Top 20 Polls for the first time in program history.

Dylan Mott/Logan Wallick sit atop UT Martin's projected OVC Championship lineup at No. 1 as that tandem has nabbed two OVC Pair of the Week accolades in 2023. They are 8-2 (all at No. 1) in league matches and 16-9 overall.

Three-time OVC Pair of the Week honorees Kambree Lucas/Olivia O'Keefe have occupied the No. 2 slot in the lineup for a majority of the season, posting an unblemished 10-0 OVC record to go along with a 23-9 combined mark for the Skyhawks.

Lucy Kaufman/Addy Vaughn have held down the No. 3 position for UT Martin, joining forces to go 10-0 in OVC play and 19-7 overall while exclusively playing at No. 3.

At No. 4, Haeleigh Paulino and Jenna Vallée have put together a 10-0 record against OVC competition as part of a remarkable 20-3 record in all matches.

Kayla Carrell is the seventh different Skyhawk to own a perfect 10-0 mark in OVC play in 2023. She is 21-9 overall and has rotated at the No. 5 position between partners Kayla Bryant (4-0), Ryan Rednour (3-0) and Audrey Haworth (3-0) during the conference season.

All matches during the 2023 OVC Championship will be streamed live on ESPN+. Those links, in addition to a full tournament schedule, links for live scoring and much more, can be found at the OVC Championship Central webpage above.