Southeast Missouri (5-12, 1-3 OVC)
at Eastern Kentucky (12-7, 3-1 OVC), Morehead State (0-17, 0-4 OVC)
Match Information
at Eastern Kentucky
Venue: Alumni Coliseum
Location: Richmond, Kentucky
When: Friday, Oct. 10; 6 p.m., CT
Live Stats: EKUSports.com
Live Video: OVCDigitalNetwork.com
at Morehead State
Venue: Wetherby Gym
Location: Morehead, Kentucky
When: Saturday, Oct. 11; 4 p.m., CT
Live Stats: MSUEagles.com
 
Twitter Updates: @SEMOvb
 
Complete Southeast Missouri Match Notes
 
In for the Long Haul
Southeast Missouri volleyball will take one last road trip before opening their five-match home stand. The Redhawks will head to Eastern Kentucky Friday followed by Morehead State Saturday. Friday's match at EKU can be viewed for free on the OVC Digital Network.
 
Looking Back
The Redhawks fell to UT Martin before picking up their first Ohio Valley Conference win against Tennessee Tech last week. The Redhawks dropped a very close, five-set match to the Skyhawks on the road. Southeast turned around and swept the Golden Eagles at home. Southeast also kicked off the 2014 Dig For Life campaign.
 
Firing Up the Offense
The Redhawks are sporting the fifth-best team hitting percentage in the league with a .202 hitting clip; up from .193 entering OVC play. Kelsey Keeve (.333) and Taylor Masterson (.331) rank fourth and fifth individually in hitting percentage. Kill-wise, the Redhawks rank seventh with 12.14 kills per set; up from 11.82 prior to OVC play. In conference-only matches, the Redhawks' .231 hitting clip ranks third. The Redhawks are tied for first in league games in holding opponents to a .167 hitting percentage.
 
Building Blocks
Since the start of OVC play this season, Southeast has improved their blocking game. In the last four games, Southeast is averaging 2.67 blocks per set as a team. Individually, Taylor Masterson is one of the best in the league in OVC games with 1.20 blocks per set while Nzingha Clarke has 1.15 per set. Overall this season, The Redhawks have 1.92 blocks per set while Clarke is averaging 1.02 with a total of 51.
 
Career Digger
Senior outside hitter Andrea Baylin is 22 digs away from reaching 1,000 in her career. Baylin currently sits at 978 in her career. She currently has 212 on the season. As a junior, Baylin tallied 410.
 
Scouting the Colonels
Eastern Kentucky defeated Morehead State before falling to Murray State last week. The win over the Eagles marked the first victory in Morehead since 2006. The victory also improved the Colonels to 3-0 in OVC play, marking its best start since 2005. The win also snapped Morehead State's 18-game regular-season home court winning streak against conference teams. Senior Abbey Cvelbar finished with a triple-double against the Eagles with 10 kills, 47 assists and 10 digs. She made only two errors for a .320 attack percentage. Alexis Plagens had a match-best 14 kills to go with 16 digs in the match with Morehead State. Freshman Celina Sanks led the team with 12 kills in the loss to Murray State. Senior Dena Ott led all players with 28 digs in the victory over Morehead State. She added 14 digs against Murray State.
 
Scouting the Eagles
Morehead State fell to Eastern Kentucky and Austin Peay last week. The Eagles are off to its first 0-17 start in school history. Morehead State is 0-4 in OVC play but went 67-3 in league matches over the last four years. No other Division I program won 96 percent of their league contests during that stretch. Sophomore Bailey Nichol tallied Morehead State's first triple-double since 2008 against Eastern Kentucky with 19 assists, 12 kills and 12 digs. She also had three aces and one block with a .423 attack percentage. Sophomore Syndey Schuler recorded a career-best 10 kills at Austin Peay while also hitting .300.
 
Records Against
Eastern Kentucky - 35-7
The Redhawks defeated the Colonels in five sets a season ago. The Redhawks went to Richmond in 2012 and fell in five sets.
Morehead State - 24-20
Southeast holds a winning record over the Eagles but have not defeated them since Nov. 6, 2009. Morehead has won the last seven meetings with Southeast Missouri. In the last decade, Southeast is 4-12 against Morehead.
 
Dig For Life
Southeast Missouri will wear pink jerseys all October long in support of Dig For Life. The Dig For Life campaign was started by former head volleyball coach and current Senior Associate Director of Athletics and Senior Woman Administrator Cindy Gannon to raise breast cancer awareness and promote early detection. Money raised through Dig For Life helps provide mammograms for women who otherwise cannot afford them.
 
Setting Up
Southeast Missouri will return to the friendly confines of Houck Field House for five-straight matches beginning Monday, Oct. 13 against Missouri State at 4 p.m. Southeast will then host SIUE and EIU the following weekend on Oct. 17 and 18.