CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri volleyball (3-18, 2-5 OVC) knocked off Belmont (10-7, 4-3 OVC) in five sets (25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-12) Friday night at the fourth annual Houck "Filled" House event.

Behind the largest crowd at Houck Field House of the season, Southeast claimed the opening game 25-21. Krissa Gearring tallied seven kills in the set (.500 attack percentage) while SEMO hit a match best .212 during the frame.

After the Bruins responded by tying the match, Southeast again earned an advantage over Belmont with it's own 25-19 set victory. A well dispersed attack from the Redhawks helped earn them a match high 12 kills during the third game.

With their backs against the ropes, the Bruins fought to force a decisive fifth set with a 25-22 victory. The back-and-forth game saw 10 ties as well as six lead changes throughout the frame. In only Marie Less' second set of the night, she registered six kills and sported a .312 hitting clip.

In dramatic fashion, the Redhawks battled from behind to edge the Bruins in the final frame. With Belmont leading 10-6 after a five-point run, SEMO strung together it's own six-point rally to reclaim command and eventually close out the match.

Gearring led the Redhawks with 17 kills and 15 digs, earning her 14th double-double of the season. Less followed with 12 kills, adding on nine digs during her three sets of action.

Katarina Rotta tallied 38 assists during the contest while Jade Mortimer registered 14 digs.

"I'm so proud of this team," commented head coach Julie Yankus. "I know we have the talent and ability to be successful and I'm so happy that their hard work paid off tonight. Rotta ran a fairly balanced attack tonight which helped make us unpredictable. Mortimer did a great job passing so we could run our offense. It was great to see our two seniors lead the team tonight. Less also did a great job for us tonight by finding ways to score and helping the team remain calm. I hope this gives the team confidence as we continue conference play."

The Redhawks return to action tomorrow when they play host to Tennessee State at 2 p.m.