MILWAUKEE, Wisc. – The Southaeast Missouri volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday afternoon at the Panther Invitational in Milwaukee, Wisc.
 
The Redhawks dropped their first match against preseason Mid-America Conference favorite Western Michigan 3-0 (25-15, 28-26, 25-23). Southeast regrouped and defeated East Carolina 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-13) later in the afternoon.
 
“Overall, I'm very pleased with the way we played against two competitive programs,“ said head coach Julie Folliard.  "We responded well after getting off to a slow start.”

Brittney Kalinoski led the Redhawks on the day with 24 kills as she recorded 14 against ECU and 10 against Western Michigan. She hit a season-high .353 against ECU.
 
“Brittney came out ready to go today, she is such an experienced player and leader for us, “ said Folliard.

The Redhawks face UW-Milwaukee on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.. Head Coach Julie Folliard is a former volleyball player for the Panthers.

Western Michigan 3 Southeast 0 - Box Score

The Redhawks were led by junior Colleen Yarber as she recorded 12 kills on the afternoon. Brittney Kalinoski added 10 kills to the Redhawks offensive attack.
 
WMU hit .295 on the day with 53 kills as Southeast added 42 kills on the afternoon with a attacking percentage of .158.
 
The Broncos hit a match-high .343 in the first set as they held the Redhawks to 11 kills and six errors as they took the stanza 25-15.
 
The second frame saw the WMU jump put to an early led, but the Redhawks would not go away making a run in the middle of the frame going on an 10-5 run and tying the match at 21-21.
 
But the Broncos ended up taking the set 28-26 with a match-high 20 kills.
 
The Redhawks earned a late lead in the third set, but a Bronco rally saw Western Michigan take the frame 25-23 and the match 3-0. The Broncos hit .341 in the final frame.
 
Julie Shives added 36 assists in the match with five kills and eight digs. Berkley Idel led the Redhawks defensively with 16 digs.
 
Emily Coon added eight kills and three blocking assists.
 
Jessica Brown led a trio of Broncos in double digit kills with a match-high 13.

Southeast 3 East Carolina 0 - Box Score

Kalinoski led the Redhawks with 14 kills hitting at a .353 clip. Julie Shives added 32 assts and six kills for Southeast.
 
The Redhawks outslugged the Pirates on the day .260 to .078. Southeast also dominated at the net with seven blocks on the afternoon.
 
Southeast got off to a fast start hitting .355 in the first frame with 16 kills. The Pirates managed a game-high 13 kills, but hit .194 as Southeast took the set 25-21.
 
The Redhawks struggled offensively in the second set, but managed to force eight attacking errors for the Pirates as the Redhawks took the frame 25-20.
 
Southeast was aggressive in the third frame hitting .303 with only three errors. The Redhawks held ECU to a match-low hitting percentage of .000 as Southeast took the set 25-13 and the match 3-0.

“We had great ball control and we really exploded their defense,“ said Folliard.
 
Yarber and Kelsey Keeve added seven kills apiece for the Southeast offense. Senior Samantha Lowman added a team-high 13 digs.
 
Nicole Willis led ECU defensively with a match-high 14 digs, she also added a team-high 12 kills.