Southeast Missouri (8-16, 3-7)
vs. UT Martin (11-12, 5-5)
Match Information
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2017
First Serve: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
Series: SEMO leads 59-21
 
Media Information
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Video: OVC Digital Network
 
Follow the Redhawks on Twitter for in-match updates @SEMOvb
 
Complete Match Notes: Southeast Missouri
 
Midweek Matchup with UT Martin
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (8-16, 3-7) hosts UT Martin Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. in a mid-week matchup at Houck Field House. The contest marks the second meeting between the two schools in 2017. The Redhawks are 6-3 this season in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
 
Tuesday's Promos
• Cape Trails Greek Night
• Post match autographs
 
Follow the Redhawks
• Live stats will be available for Tuesday's match. The live stat link can be found on the volleyball schedule on GoSoutheast.com.
• The match will also be streamed live and 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
Southeast leads the all-time record against the Skyhawks, 59-21, but fell to UT Martin, 1-3, in both team's Ohio Valley Conference opener in Martin, Tennessee on Tuesday, Sept. 19. Krissa Gearring led the Redhawks with 18 kills and Mikayla Kuhlmann and Nzingha Clarke each chipped in 10. Keegan Fornoff recorded 28 assists and Allie Henkelman had 16. Ally Dion picked up 14 digs. Henkelman and Kuhlmann each notched double-doubles in the match. SEMO last beat the Skyhawks, 3-0, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016 at the Houck Field House.

Scouting the Skyhawks (11-12, 5-5)
The Skyhawks arrive in Cape with an 11-12 overall record with a .500 (5-5) mark in the OVC. UT Martin split their weekend homestand, falling on Friday against Eastern Kentucky before beating Morehead State in four sets. Senior middle blocker Jemima Idemudia notched 29 kills over the weekend including a 16-kill performance on a .583 hitting percentage Saturday versus MSU. Junior libero/defensive specialist Brooke Gyori scooped up 21 digs in both matches to total 42 (5.25 digs per set). UTM was pegged to finish last in the OVC and 2016 All-OVC First Team honoree Idemudia was named to the 2017 Preseason All-OVC Team.
 
Let's Recap
Southeast split their homestand this past weekend with a win over Morehead State on Friday before a loss to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday. On Friday evening, the Redhawks posted their season-best team hitting percentage of .371 in the victory. Haley Bilbruck notched a career-high 10 kills on a .643 hitting clip. Mikayla Kuhlmann added nine kills on a career-high .444 hitting percentage.
 
On Saturday, Nzingha Clarke tied her career-high of 11 total blocks with five solo and six block assists. Krissa Gearring and Allie Henkelman also recorded their eighth double-doubles of the season against EKU.
 
Gearring finished the weekend with 23 kills and 15 digs. Henkelman totaled 39 assists and 25 digs along with a kill over the two matches. Ally Dion also tallied 25 digs over the weekend.
 
Making it Look Ea"Z"y
Nzingha Clarke leads the conference and ranks 23rd in the NCAA with 111 total blocks (24 solo and 87 assists) this season and recorded her 300th block assist as a Redhawk this past weekend. She now has 307 block assists in her career. Clarke ranks 11th all-time in Southeast program history with 426 total blocks behind Brenna Schlader (438 from 2004-07).
 
Offensively, Clarke also hit her 900th career kill on Saturday and now has 905 kills. She is also second in the OVC with a .376 hitting percentage. In solely conference matches, Clarke leads the league with a .388.
 
Ace for Dion
Libero Ally Dion led the team with four service aces over the weekend. Dion hit all four on Friday against Morehead State and leads the OVC (40th in the NCAA) with 0.41 ace per set. She also ranks fourth in the conference with 30 total service aces (12 in OVC play).
 
Century Mark in Kills
Juniors Madara Bajare and Haley Bilbruck notched their 100th kills of the campaign on Friday. Bajare now has 100 kills in 2017 and Bilbruck has 111. 
 
Double-Doubles
Krissa Gearring and Allie Henkelman notched their team-leading eighth double-doubles of the season on Saturday. In total, five Redhawks have tallied double-doubles in 2017. Mikayla Kuhlmann has three, Keegan Fornoff has two and Nzingha Clarke has one.
 
Assisting Allie
Senior setter Allie Henkelman led Southeast this past weekend with 39 assists and 25 digs. Henkelman has notched career-highs with 399 assists and 186 digs in 2017. She has totaled 551 assists and 256 digs in her Redhawks career.
 
Looking Ahead
After Tuesday's home match, SEMO hits the road for three-straight away matches. The Redhawks face Tennessee Tech on Friday at 7 p.m. and then take on Murray State and Austin Peay on Nov. 3 and 4. Southeast closes the regular season with home matchups against SIUE on Nov. 10 and Eastern Illinois on Nov. 11.
 
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 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.