PEORIA, Ill. – Southeast Missouri (4-8) split a pair of matches at day one of the Bradley Invitational Friday after falling to Texas-El Paso and winning a thrilling five-set match over tournament host Bradley. 

In the morning, the Redhawks fell to Texas-El Paso (5-7), 3-2 (25-13, 20-25, 25-20, 21-25, 9-15). The Redhawks battled from behind to overcome tournament host Bradley (5-5)  3-2 (25-19,21-25, 25-18, 29-27, 15-12) to finish day one of the tournament. 

UTEP 3, Southeast Missouri  2
The Redhawks and Miners engaged in an early back and forth battle. Ahead by two, a kill by Krissa Gearring sparked a 10-1 rally (20-9). The Redhawks maintained control, breezing by the Miners 25-13.
 
UTEP bounced back, claiming the first four points of the second set. Battling, the Redhawks remained close but never could overtake their opposition. Late in the game, the Miners pulled away to finish the set 25-20, tying the match at one set each.
 
With the match tied, the Redhawks took an early lead in the third frame. Never faltering, Southeast took advantage of UTEP's errors to remain ahead. The Redhawks eventually topped the Miners 25-20 and took a 2-1 match lead.
 
Set four saw Southeast ahead a majority of the frame with UTEP closely behind. Late in the game, the Miners rallied with five straight points (22-19) to surpass the Redhawks. UTEP went on to edge Southeast 25-21, forcing a fifth and final set. Korrine Croft amassed a .444 hitting clip with five kills during the frame for the Redhawks.
 
In the end, the Miners' momentum would carry them through the final set, as they went on to win 15-9 and defeat Southeast, 3-2, in the match. 
 
Nzingha Clarke led the Redhawks with 14 kills. Croft finished with 13 and a team leading .458 hitting percentage. 
 
Katarina Rotta, Marie Less, and Gearring registered double-doubles during the match. Less recorded 12 kills and 11 digs while Gearring had 11 kills and 23 digs. Rotta contributed 10 digs while tallying 51 assists.
 
Southeast Missouri 3, Bradley 2
While remaining close, the Braves were able to maintain a slight edge of the Redhawks early in the match. Down by two, Southeast's defense forced Bradley into multiple errors accumulating in a 10-1 streak for the Redhawks (20-14). The Redhawks finished the frame 25-19 to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Madalyn Werths led Southeast with 4 kills in the set and a .400 attack percentage. Starting setter Keegan Fornoff began her first game of the day with 11 assists.

Set two pitted both squads in a intense battle, seeing six lead changes throughout the frame. Tied at 19, the Braves finally gathered the needed momentum to charge ahead and finish the set 25-21. Less' five kills in the set helped her tie a personal season high of 14 in the match.

With the match tied at one set apiece, Southeast was unable to halt Bradley's continued momentum, dropping the third set decisively, 25-18.

Down 2-1, Southeast bounced back in the fourth frame by claiming the first five points. The Redhawks surged forward, at one point leading the Braves by nine, 15-6. Bradley began to fight back, eventually catching Southeast and forcing a 24-24 tie.  The Redhawks refused to relinquish the lead however, finally finishing off the Braves 29-27 and forcing a fifth game.

Attempting to prevent a Redhawk comeback, Bradley took an early lead in the final frame. The Redhawks refused to be denied as Croft led the defensive front with three blocks, helping produce five team blocks in the set. Southeast overtook Bradley and earned the hard-fought 3-2 victory on a final kill by Less, 15-12.

Less finished the match with 14 kills. Fornoff set a career-high while recording a double-double with 36 assists and 13 digs. Clarke, Gearring and Werths all reached double-digits kills, as Gearring had her second double-double performance of the day.

The Redhawks play their final tournament match tomorrow against DePaul at 1:30 p.m.