CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo – Southeast Missouri (0-2) opened its 2015 season with two losses during the first day of the Drury Hotels Invitational Friday at Houck Field House.

Southeast fell to Arkansas State (2-0) by a score of 3-0 (25-20, 25-10, 25-16) and came up on the short end of a 3-1 loss to Saint Louis (1-1). The Billikens, after dropping their first set, regrouped to win three in a row and clinch the match (20-25, 25-19, 25-19, 25-22).

Arkansas State 3, Southeast Missouri 0
Southeast hung tough with Arkansas State, but in the end, the Red Wolves prevailed.

ASU held a four-point lead most of the time before taking the first set, 25-20. Madalyn Werths and Krissa Gearring each recorded five kills with Gearring mounting an attack percentage of .833. Nzingha Clarke also contributed two blocks in the frame.

Ahead, 6-4, ASU widened its lead with a seven-point surge to take control of the second set. The Red Wolves, who added another lengthy run later, closed out the set with a commanding 25-10 win.

The Redhawks remained close in the first part of the third set, trailing by just two points. However, ASU secured 13 of the next 19 points to complete its sweep with a 25-16 victory.

Gearring led Southeast with 12 kills and a .391 hitting clip. Werths followed close behind with 11 kills. Katarina Rotta led the team with 28 assists, as well.

Darby Graff paced the Red Wolves with 13 kills and a .571 attack percentage. Mallory Warrington turned in 33 assists and six kills. Drew Jones added two service aces to go along with her 12 kills.

Saint Louis 3, Southeast Missouri 1
Southeast put pressure on Saint Louis early, forcing the Billikens to make several errors.

Neither team led by more than three points until the score was tied at 20-20 in a back-and-forth opening set. The Redhawks then claimed the final five points to pull out a 25-20 win. Jade Mortimer had a big hand in the Redhawks defensive effort, earning nine of her team's 20 digs.

Another see-saw battle ensued once play resumed.

This time, SLU led most of the way. The Billikens allowed the Redhawks to take the lead on only two occasions, and Southeast couldn't pull ahead by more than one point each of those times. The Billikens broke away to win the set, 25-19, with the help of Meridith Boe's

SLU carried its momentum into the next set, grabbing 15 of the first 20 points. Southeast managed to pull to within five (17-12), but the Billikens didn't let up en route to their 25-19 victory.

After falling behind, 19-12, Southeast used a six-point run to pull to within a point. But, late errors came back to haunt the Redhawks in the end, as SLU won the match by a close 25-22 margin. Gearring had a match-high six kills and the Redhawks registered five blocks in the set.

Gearring ended the night with 18 digs and a team-high 15 kills for Southeast. Mortimer added 19 digs and Rotta posted 31 assists. Both Korrine Croft and Clarke had four solo blocks as the Redhawks had a total of 13 on the night.

Danielle Rygelski led SLU with 18 kills, Boe tallied 48 assists and Nenye Okoro accumulated 24 digs.

Southeast concludes play in the 2015 Drury Hotels Redhawks Invitational against Missouri-Kansas City Saturday. Start time is 2 p.m., CT.