The top-seeded Gamecocks (26-6) used a dominant effort to hand the third-seeded Eagles (21-11) a convincing 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-13) defeat and claim their third OVC Tournament Title since 2005.
The win also gives JSU a Division I school record 26 wins and closes a perfect 12-0 record in Pete Mathews Coliseum this season.
Junior Caitlin Vorbeck was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player to headline three JSU selections on the All-Tournament Team.
The Raytown, Mo., native knocked down 11 kills in the win to finish the tourney with 25 kills on a.309 attack percentage.
Joining her on the All-Tourney Team were senior Brittney Whitten and sophomore Lauren Harkins.
Whitten, an outside hitter from Boonville, Ind., recorded a match-high 14 kills on a .281 attack percentage and picked up 12 digs in the final match. The effort was her 25th double-double of the season and helped extend what has been a decorated career. She wrapped up the weekend with 3.86 kills and 4.14 digs per set.
Harkins, a Louisville, Ky., native, picked up a match-high 16 digs in Saturday's win, following a semifinal match on Friday that saw her grab 31 digs. She wrapped up the weekend averaging 6.71 digs per set and stretched her school record for digs in a season to 625, 99 more than the previous record set by Kisha West in 2005, JSU's first NCAA Tournament season.
Freshman Jen Meyer also capped an impressive tournament with nine kill son a .615 attack percentage in the final. The Maineville, Ohio, native hit. 516 over the two tourney matches, averaging 2.71 kills per set. Junior Brooke Schumacher dished 36 of the Gamecocks' 44 assists in the championship match, finishing the tourney with an average of 10.5 assists per set.
With the win, the Gamecocks earn a pre-tournament matchup with Louisville, a match set up for the OVC Champion that serves as a tune up for the NCAA Tournament. They will learn where and who they play in the NCAA Tourney on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. CT on the NCAA Selection Show, televised on ESPNews.
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