IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Southeast Missouri volleyball team earned a split in the opening day of the Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa Friday. The Redhawks defeated Valparaiso 3-1 (14-25,26-24,25-15, 25-18) in the opening match of the 2012 season.

The Redhawks dropped their second match of the day against South Dakota State (25-15,25-15,25-22).

“We need to get out to a better start, but overall we did some good things." said head coach Julie Folliard. "We showed that we can compete."
 
Southeast will return to action tomorrow afternoon against the host institution Iowa at 12:00 p.m. The Redhawks will close out their weekend with a 5:00 p.m. match against Chicago State.

Southeast 3 Valpo 1 - Box Score

Junior Colleen Yarber led the Redhawks with 16 kills to go along with 15 digs. Sophomore Kelsey Keeve added a career-high 13 kills.

“Kelsey turned things around for us and was very aggressive and confident,“ said Folliard.

The Redhawks recovered to take the final three sets after hitting -.048 in the opening frame with only three kills.
 
The Crusaders took the first stanza 25-14. Southeast made five attacking errors and two service errors in an error riddled set.
 
The Redhawks rallied in the second frame with a 26-24 win. Valpo was in control of the set until the Redhawks used an 11-2 run to take a 22-20 lead.
 
Valpo replied and tied the match at 24-24 after the Redhawks' run, but back-to-back kills from Yarber and Emily Coon sealed the set for Southeast.

“We had to get settled in and play our game and we took charge,“ said Folliard.

Yarber led the Redhawks with five kills in the second set as Keeve added four kills.
 
Southeast came out firing in the third set hitting .333 and holding the Crusaders to hitting percentage of .163. Southeast pounded 16 kills with four kills from both Yarber and Keeve as the tandem continued their aggressive play as the Redhawks took the set 25-15.
 
In the final frame the Redhawks made only three attacking errors and forced seven by Valpo as Southeast took the match with a 25-18 victory.
 
Junior Julie Shives added 40 assists and 16 digs. Junior Berkley Idel led Southeast with 19 digs.
 
Senior Karlee Lursen and Samantha Lowman added two service aces apeiece as they combined for 28 digs defensively.

SDSU 3 Southeast 0 - Box Score

The Jackrabbits hit .333 on the afternoon with 43 kills as Southeast hit .107 with 23 attacking errors. Southeast drops to 1-1 on the young season as SDSU moves to 1-0.

“SDSU placed the ball well, they are very well balanced “ said Folliard.

South Dakota State took the first set 25-15. The Redhawks made seven attacking errors hitting .081. The Jackrabbits hit .306 in their first set of their 2012 campaign.
 
Southeast struggled in the second stanza with 11 attacking errors hitting at a -.021 clip. SDSU pounded 13 kills, hitting .286 taking the set 25-15.
 
Southeast rallied in the third set with a late 5-0 run to cut the SDSU lead. Southeast showed improvement in the third frame hitting .297, but the Jackrabbits held strong in the final stanza taking the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.
 
The Redhawks were led by All-Ohio Valley Conference pick Emily Coon with a game-high 12 kills, hitting .450 on the afternoon.
 
Shives added 30 assists and 11 dig for Southeasts. Idel added 16 digs to lead the Redhawks.