CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri (10-15, 6-6 OVC) defeated SIUE (13-12, 8-3 OVC) in three sets Saturday night at Houck Field House (25-22, 25-19, 25-20).

Saturday was the Redhawks' annual Breast Cancer Survivor Night. During the intermission, the Redhawks honored several breast cancer survivors as the month of October and Dig for Life draws to a close.

Feeding off the energy from the previous night's victory, the Redhawks sprung to an early 11-4 lead over the Cougars. Krissa Gearring began to control the set, tallying several kills and giving Southeast a 19-14 lead. SIUE recovered, fighting back late in the frame, eventually finding themselves down by two, 24-22. Nzingha Clarke, however, earned her third kill of the frame to give an early match lead to the Redhawks, winning the set 25-22. Gearring finished the set with an astounding eight kills and a .400 hitting clip.

The Redhawks pressured the Cougars early in the second set, taking another early 11-4 lead. Southeast was able to maintain a healthy lead throughout the frame, finishing off SIUE 25-19 and taking a 2-0 lead in the match. Gearring tallied another five kills in the frame as strong defense by the Redhawks set the tone for the rest of the match.

Fighting back, the Cougars remained close with the Redhawks throughout much of the third frame. Tied at 16, Taylor Masterson earned a huge kill off Katarinna Rotta's set to take the lead. SIUE again tied the match at 18 before another kill by Gearring gave Southeast its final needed spark. The Redhawks went on to finish the set 25-20, sweeping the Cougars in straight sets.

Gearring finished the match with 16 kills, followed by Werths with 10. Gearring's 17 points in the match was the highest of the season for the Redhawks in three set matches, toping her own mark set on Sept. 4 against Gardner-Webb. As a team, the Redhawks had 43 kills with a .327 attack percentage. Jade Mortimer led with 13 of Southeast's 42 digs while Keegan Fornoff and Rotta each tallied 17 assists in the match.

After the match, Head Coach Julie Yankus discussed Gearring's effort. "Krissa had an awesome match tonight! We purposely matched her up with SIUE's setter so she could capitalize on her small block. She is a great six-rotation player who passes a ton for us and them terminates as well. Krissa played very aggresive tonight."

Yankus went on to discuss the weekend as a whole, "This was a pivotal weekend for our team. Werths had another great weekend. Her and Keegan have really been connecting well. Fornoff just does a great job of finding Werths in all situations. We have paired them together on the floor for a reason!"

Southeast embarks on its final road trip of the season next weekend when the Redhawks visit Austin Peay (Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.) and Murray State (Nov. 7 at 2 p.m.). The following Tuesday, Nov. 10, Southeast will close the road trip against UT Martin. The Redhawks will return home to finish the regular season with Senior Night on Nov. 14 against Jacksonville State.