OVC VOLLEYBALL DESCENDS ON CAPE

Anybody care to go dancing? The volleyball teams in the Ohio Valley Conference would like nothing better.

An automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament -- commonly referred to as the `big dance' -- will be on the line this weekend when Southeast Missouri State University hosts the OVC Tournament for the first time ever.

The tourney will begin today, continue Saturday and then conclude Sunday with the championship match that will determine the OVC's representative into the NCAA Tournament.

Host Southeast has won five straight OVC regular-season championships and the Otahkians are also the defending conference tourney champs.

Even though the Otahkians finished on top of the league again this year to earn the top seed for the tournament, things were extremely tight the entire season. That's why Southeast coach Cindy Gannon is looking for a wide-open tourney in which as many as six of the 10 teams have a legitimate shot at the title.

"There was so much parity in the OVC this year," she said. "It's a wide-open tournament."

Southeast (15-3 OVC, 25-8 overall) edged out Tennessee Tech (14-4, 20-9) for the regular-season title, with Murray State (13-5, 20-11) right behind.

Three other teams finished with winning league records: Austin Peay (12-6, 21-9), Eastern Illinois (11-7, 19-13) and Morehead State (10-8, 18-13).

Rounding out the bottom four were Middle Tennessee (5-13, 10-22), Tennessee-Martin (4-14, 12-18), Tennessee State (3-15, 8-20) and Eastern Kentucky (3-15, 3-28).

There will be six matches today, three at Houck Field House and three at the Student Recreation Center.

At Houck, Tennessee-Martin plays Tennessee State at 3 p.m.; Austin Peay faces Eastern Illinois at 5; and Southeast plays the Tennessee-Martin-Tennessee State winner at 7.

At the Student Rec Center, it's Middle Tennessee vs. Eastern Kentucky at 3 p.m.; Murray State vs. Morehead State at 5; and Tennessee Tech vs. the Middle Tennessee-Eastern Kentucky winner at 7.

The rest of the tournament will be played at Houck. The semifinals will be at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, with the championship match set for 3 p.m. Sunday.

As evidence of the parity in the league that Gannon referred to, Tennessee State -- coached by former Southeast assistant Dave Schwepker -- owns a victory over Murray State.

"Everybody is dangerous this year," Gannon said.

Southeast had the most problems during the season with Murray State as the Lady Racers beat the Otahkians in both meetings. Southeast's other OVC loss came against Austin Peay.

"Murray beat us twice, so obviously they know how to beat us," said Gannon. "Austin Peay really put it to us at their place. Tennessee Tech is a seasoned team, very powerful, and they're hungry. They were picked seventh and finished second.

"We're just going in expecting a lot of tough matches. But we seem to be peaking at the right time, so that's always a good sign."

Gannon knows the Otahkians will have to perform well to win and she also knows her team will receive an added boost by playing in front of the home crowd.

"The OVC has wanted to rotate all the teams to host and now it's our turn. We've been waiting for this," she said. "It's really exciting. We have a wonderful place to play in Houck and hopefully we'll have big crowds."

OVC Volleyball Tournament

(Seeds in parentheses)

Today's Matches

(at Student Recreation Center)

(7) Middle Tenn. vs. (10) Eastern Ky., 3 p.m.

(3) Murray St. vs. (6) Morehead St., 5 p.m.

(2) Tenn. Tech vs. Middle Tenn.-Eastern Ky. winner, 7 p.m.

(at Houck Field House)

(8) UT-Martin vs. (9) Tenn. St., 3 p.m.

(4) Austin Peay vs. (5) Eastern Ill., 5 p.m.

(1) SE Missouri vs. UT-Martin-Tenn. St. winner, 7 p.m.

Saturday's Matches

(at Houck Field House)

Semifinals, 5 p.m., 7 p.m.

Sunday's Match

(at Houck Field House)

Championship, 3 p.m.