CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri volleyball (4-22, 3-9 OVC) fell short against Austin Peay (21-8, 10-2 OVC) in a close five-set battle (25-23, 20-25, 28-30, 25-22, 15-8) Friday night at Houck Field House.

APSU took an early lead in the opening frame, jumping out to 6-1 lead. While Southeast was able to battle back late in the frame to draw even on three separate occasions, the Redhawks could not overtake the Govs and fell behind in the match, 1-0.

Similar to APSU's quick start, SEMO battled to a 8-3 lead early in the second set behind four kills from Krissa Gearring. The Governors fought back, forcing a tie at 11. The Redhawks were able to out-battle the Govs, earning the 25-20 victory and drawing a 1-1 tie. Gearring finished the frame with an impressive nine kills as Southeast hit a best .277 attack percentage during the set.

An intense third set ensued as Southeast's strong defensive presence forced APSU to hit for an under .150 success rate for the second consecutive game. A neck-and-neck close to the frame ended with Southeast earning the match advantage (30-28) after a total of 17 ties and seven lead changes.

With APSU taking a lead in the fourth game, Southeast overtook the Govs to hold a late 22-18 advantage. A late surge allowed the Governors to end up on top in the closing moments of the set. The Govs late success carried over into the fifth game as they would go on to win 15-8, earning a 3-2 match victory.

Gearring led Southeast with 18 kills while registering 11 digs for her 18th double-double fo the year. Nzingha Clarke tallied 13 kills while posting a hitting clip of .355 for the night.

Marie Less recorded a career-best 25 digs during the match, topping her old mark of 24 set last year against APSU. Jade Mortimer followed with 18 digs of her own while tying her match high of six assists.

Madeline Grimm and Jessica McElderry joined Clarke, Gearring and Less in double-digit points on the night as both earned 10 total. Grimm earned 10 kills in the match while McElderry had seven kills and added five total blocks (four block assists).

Keegan Fornoff led the SEMO setters with 27 assists, followed by Katarina Rotta at 19.

Southeast hits the road next weekend, Nov. 4-5, to take on SIUE and Eastern Illinois. Friday's match against the Cougars will begin at 7 p.m. and will broadcast on the OVC Digital Network while Saturday's contest against the Panthers is set for 6 p.m.