Complete Match Notes | Tournament Central

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri volleyball will travel to Columbus, Ohio to participate in the Sports Imports D.C. Koehl Classic, hosted by No. 13 Ohio State University. As the Redhawks prepare to enter their third tournament of the season, they look to face their toughest competition yet.

Southeast  will play a single match on Friday against Xavier to open tournament play followed by matches against host Ohio State and IUPUI on Saturday. All four teams in the tournament are at or above .500 in 2013, including Ohio State, who is undefeated and ranked No. 13 in the latest NCAA rankings.

Let's Review
The Redhawks volleyball squad is coming off another successful weekend, this time at the K-State Invitational. Southeast fell to the host school 3-0 to open tournament play but turned it around in match two against Siena with a sweep of their own. Southeast defeated regional rival Southern Illinois in a close match that went five sets to finish tournament play 2-1; good enough to earn second place and have two players (Emily Coon, Colleen Yarber) earn all-tournament team honors.

Playing a Wall
Southeast Missouri leads the OVC in blocks with 57 (25 solo, 64 assisted). This comes after Taylor Masterson had a career-high 11 blocks against SIU Saturday. Masterson leads the OVC in blocking (1.22 blocks/s). The Redhawks also rank second in digs (16.91 digs/s). Berkley Idel (4.22 digs/s) and Colleen Yarber (3.87 digs/s) each rank in the top ten in digging.

In Front of the Home Crowd
While the Redhawks will not be playing at Houck Field House, three Redhawks (Andrea Baylin, Julie Shives, Meredith Stranges) will be making the trip back to their home state of Ohio to play in front of family and friends.

Tournament History
In its eighth year sponsored by Sports Imports, the tournament also honors longtime Sports Information Director D.C. Koehl, who passed away in January 2012. Koehl was in his 39th year with the Department of Athletics and had been the athletics communications contact for the women's volleyball team for 30 years before his passing.

Scouting Trip
The Xavier Musketeers are currently 5-2 this season. The Musketeers are coming off a sweep of Miami (Ohio), Tuesday. Xavier recently went 2-1 at the Duquesne/Robert Morris Invitational with sweeps over Robert Morris and Central Michigan. Xavier fell to Michigan in the season-opener but finished the Xavier Invitational with wins over Northern Kentucky and Clemson. Senior Alex Smith leads the Big East in hitting (.500) and ranks in the top ten in kills (3.14 k/s).

No. 13 Ohio State is currently undefeated (6-0) in the 2013 campaign with wins over Northern Illinois, Western Kentucky and Florida State, just to name a few. Senior outside hitter Kaitlyn Leary is the Buckeye's player to watch after earning Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week and Big Ten Player of the Week this week.

IUPUI is the team closest to .500 (4-4) participating in tournament. The Jaguars have wins over Florida Gulf Coast, Montana State, Saint Louis and, most recently, Indiana State. The Jaguars recently took part in the Comfort Inn and Suites Tournament hosted by OVC foe Morehead State. IUPUI took the tournament title after going 2-1, the loss coming from host Morehead. Senior outside hitter Moriah Fair was namend MVP of the tournament.