Southeast Missouri (7-15, 2-6)
vs. Morehead State (11-10, 2-6)
Match Information
Date: Friday, Oct. 20, 2017
First Serve: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
Series: SEMO leads 26-21
 
Media Information
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Video: OVC Digital Network
 
vs. Eastern Kentucky (7-15, 5-3)
Match Information
Date: Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017
First Serve: 2 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
Series: SEMO leads 36-9
 
Media Information
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Video: OVC Digital Network
 
Follow the Redhawks on Twitter for in-match updates @SEMOvb
 
Complete Match Notes: Southeast Missouri
 
SEMO Hosts Pair of Kentucky Teams
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (7-15, 2-6) welcomes Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky to Houck Field House for a weekend homestand. The Redhawks face Morehead State Friday at 6:30 p.m. and then meet EKU Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
This Weekend's Promos
Friday, Oct. 20
• Pink Up Match: Friday night is Southeast volleyball's annual Pink Up Match. The Redhawks will wear special edition pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness. Fans that wear pink will receive a token for free Imo's provel bites.
• Andy's Frozen Custard Res Hall Rally: The first 300 SEMO students in attendance will receive a coupon for a free cone at Andy's Frozen Custard.
• Post match autographs
Saturday, Oct. 21
• Post match autographs
 
Follow the Redhawks
• Live stats will be available for both matches on Friday and Saturday. Both live stat links can be found on the volleyball schedule on GoSoutheast.com.
• Both matches will be streamed live for free on the OVC Digital Network.
• @SEMOvb, the official Twitter page of the Redhawks volleyball team, will feature live in-game updates all season long.
 
Series History
Morehead State
Southeast leads the all-time series against Morehead State, 26-21. The Eagles took the most recent meeting, 3-1 (25-22, 25-20, 19-25, 25-13), on Oct. 22, 2016 in Morehead, Kentucky. Southeast last beat MSU on Oct. 10, 2015, 3-1 (14-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-17), in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Nzingha Clarke led the Redhawks with nine kills and eight blocks. Keegan Fornoff recorded 15 assists in the contest.
 
Eastern Kentucky
The Redhawks hold a 36-9 edge in the all-time series with Eastern Kentucky, but the Colonels claimed the most recent match, 3-2, on Oct. 21, 2016. Krissa Gearring (22 kills, 20 digs) and Marie Less (17 kills, 15 digs) both notched double-doubles in the contest. Nzingha Clarke added 10 kills. SEMO took the lone meeting between the two teams in 2015 on Oct. 9 in Cape, 3-1. Clarke led Southeast with 14 kills and five blocks and Gearring recorded a double-double performance with 11 kills and 24 digs.
 
Scouting the Eagles (11-10, 2-6)
Morehead State enters the matchup tied for ninth in the OVC with Southeast and Tennessee State at 2-6. The Eagles split their weekend homestand with a sweep over Eastern Illinois and an 0-3 loss to SIUE.
 
Freshman middle blocker Olivia Lohmeier led the team over the two matches with 22 kills on a .333 attack percentage. Junior middle blocker Maddie Fella recorded a team-high 11 digs last week, with eight on Friday against EIU. Junior setter Jordan Jones compiled 46 assists, 17 kills, 13 digs and seven blocks. Jones posted a double-double performance versus Eastern Illinois with 12 kills and 25 assists.
 
Morehead State was chosen to finish seventh in the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll.
 
Scouting the Colonels (7-15, 5-3)
Eastern Kentucky travels to Cape after a Friday night contest at UT Martin. The Colonels are tied for fourth in the OVC with Murray State.
 
EKU dropped back-to-back matches last weekend against SIUE (2-3) and EIU (1-3). Senior outside hitter Nikki Drost led the Colonels with a season-high 22 kills against SIUE and finished the week with 32 kills on a .329 hitting percentage. Junior defensive specialist Chloe Rojas totaled 54 digs, with a career-best 30 digs against SIUE and 24 versus Eastern Illinois. Junior setter/right side hitter Cassie Knutson recorded a match-high 29 assists versus SIUE and added a double-double versus Eastern Illinois (11 assists and 11 kills).
 
Eastern Kentucky was picked to finish fifth in the OVC, according to the league's 2017 predicted order of finish. Drost, a 2016 All-OVC First Team honoree, and setter Rachel Woody were selected to the 2017 Preseason All-OVC Team.
 
Let's Recap
Southeast picked up its first road win of the campaign and second conference win last Friday at Tennessee State. SEMO has now matched its win total from 2016. Krissa Gearring led the offense with 14 kills and a .343 hitting clip. Mikayla Kuhlmann and Nzingha Clarke each chipped in nine kills. Allie Henkelman totaled 20 assists and 12 digs for her third straight double-double. The Redhawks then fell to Belmont, 0-3, to split their weekend matches in Nashville, Tennessee. Ally Dion led the team defensively over the two matches with 21 digs.
 
Making it Look Ea"Z"y
Nzingha Clarke leads the conference with 97 total blocks (18 solo and 79 assists) this season and is one block assist away from 300 block assists in her Redhawks career. She currently ranks 11^th all-time in career block assists behind Theresa Sebacher who recorded 328 from 1993 to 1996. She also sits at 11^th all-time with 412 total blocks behind Brenna Schlader (438 from 2004-07). Clarke is also 11 kills from 900 in her Southeast career. She also tops the OVC with a .385 hitting percentage.
 
Century Mark in Kills
Juniors Madara Bajare and Haley Bilbruck are close to eclipsing 100 kills this season. Bajare has recorded 94 and Bilbruck has 97 ahead of this weekend's slate of matches. Sophomore Krista Berns notched her second straight 100-kill season this past weekend and has totaled 202 kills in her Redhawks career.
 
Double-Doubles for Allie
Senior setter Allie Henkelman recorded her third straight double-double performance (20 assists and 12 digs) and team-high seventh of the campaign in Friday night's victory at Tennessee State. Henkelman now has 11 double-doubles in her Redhawks career and is tied with Krissa Gearring for the team lead in 2017.
 
Looking Ahead
The Redhawks conclude their three-game homestand on Tuesday, Oct. 24 against UT Martin before heading on the road for three straight matches versus Tennessee Tech, Murray State and Austin Peay. Southeast closes the 2017 regular season at Houck Field House Nov. 10 and 11 against SIUE and Eastern Illinois.
 
Non-Conference Recap
SEMO concluded their non-conference schedule with a 5-9 record (4-0 home, 0-4 away, 1-5 neutral). Southeast picked up its first win of the season over Alcorn State at the New Orleans Invitational and returned to Cape Girardeau, Mo. where the team rallied off four-straight wins and claimed the Redhawks Invitational Championship. The Redhawks then lost seven-straight matches at both the Drake Invitational and Chicago State Invitational with a stop at SIU sandwiched in between.
 
Roster Breakdown
The Redhawks squad includes 15 student-athletes with the bulk of the team made up of upperclassmen (five seniors and five juniors). Nine members from the 2016 team return this season with four returnees being regular starters last season. The 2017 roster features five newcomers, two of which are true freshman and the other three players transferring from other institutions.
 
OVC Preseason
SEMO was chosen to finish ninth in the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll. The Redhawks received 70 points in the survey voted on by OVC Coaches and Sports Information Directors. Belmont was picked as the 2017 preseason favorite. The Bruins garnered 10 of the 24 first place votes for 223 points. Austin Peay (214 points) finished second with six first-place votes. SIUE (199 points) took two first-place votes for third and 2016 OVC Champion, Murray State, (188 points) received six first-place votes to place fourth. Senior outside hitter Krissa Gearring and senior middle blocker Nzingha Clarke were both named to the 2017 Preseason All-OVC Team.