Southeast Missouri (10-18, 5-9)
vs. SIUE (21-5, 11-3)
Match Information
Date: Friday, Nov. 10
First Serve: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
Series: SIUE leads 9-7
 
Media Information
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
vs. Eastern Illinois (13-13, 7-7)
Match Information
Date: Saturday, Nov. 11
First Serve: 2 p.m.
Location: Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Venue: Houck Field House
Series: SEMO leads 32-21-1
 
Media Information
Live Stats: StatBroadcast 
Video: OVC Digital Network
 
Follow the Redhawks on Twitter for in-match updates @SEMOvb
 
Complete Match Notes: Southeast Missouri
 
Final 2017 Homestand
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (10-18, 5-9) concludes their regular season this weekend with a homestand against SIUE and Eastern Illinois. The Redhawks host SIUE on Friday at 6:30 p.m. and then take on the Panthers on Saturday at 2 p.m.

This Weekend's Promos
Friday, Nov. 10
• Girl Scout Night
• Post match autographs
Saturday, Nov. 11
• Senior Day, presented by Chateau Girardeau. Southeast will recognize seniors Allie Henkelman, Marie Less, Jessica McElderry, Nzingha Clarke and Krissa Gearring prior to Saturday's 2 p.m. match.
 
Follow the Redhawks
• Live stats will be available for both matches. The live stat links can be found on the volleyball schedule on GoSoutheast.com.
• Saturday's match will 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
SIUE
Southeast trails in the all-time series with the Cougars, 7-9, with SIUE taking the past three meetings including both matches in 2016 (Oct. 1 and Nov. 4). SIUE won the most recent contest on Oct. 7 in Edwardsville, Illinois, 3-1, after SEMO won the opening set, 31-29. Krissa Gearring posted a double-double with 14 kills and 14 digs. Nzingha Clarke added nine kills and six total blocks. Keegan Fornoff had 18 assists with 10 digs and Allie Henkelman recorded 11 assists and 12 digs.
 
The Redhawks last beat the Cougars on Halloween, Oct. 31, 2015, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Southeast won both meetings in 2009 to open the series.
 
Eastern Illinois
Southeast Missouri leads the all-time series with the Panthers, 32-21-1, but Eastern Illinois won the most recent meeting, 3-0, in Charleston, Illinois on Oct. 6. Nzingha Clarke led SEMO with 11 kills and Allie Henkelman dished out 21 assists.
 
Prior to that match, the Redhawks had won three straight over EIU. Southeast last beat EIU in straight sets on Nov. 5, 2016 in Charleston, Illinois. Krissa Gearring led the team with 16 kills and Nzingha Clarke tallied 13 kills and four blocks. Keegan Fornoff recorded 26 assists and 15 digs for her fourth career double-double. SEMO was victorious in their most recent home tilt over the Panthers on Sept. 30, 2016 and hold a 9-4 record dating back to 2011.
 
Scouting the Opponents
Cougars (21-5, 11-3)
SIUE enters the matchup second in the OVC with an 11-3 mark in conference play. The Cougars swept both EIU and Tennessee State last week.Against EIU, senior outside hitter Jackie Scott recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 11 digs. Senior middle blocker Taylor Joens and senior outside hitter Ashley Witt each chipped in nine kills. In Saturday's win over Tennessee State, six Cougar players notched six or more kills in a balanced offensive attack. Senior libero Katie Shashack led the SIUE defense over the two matches with 34 digs including 22 against Eastern Illinois to earn OVC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
 
SIUE was chosen third in the 2017 OVC preseason poll with two first-place votes. Joens (2016 All-OVC First Team) and senior outside hitter Jackie Scott (2016 All-OVC Second Team) were named to the 2017 Preseason All-OVC Volleyball Team.
 
Panthers (13-13, 7-7)
Eastern Illinois split their two matches last week with a mid-week loss at SIUE followed by a straight-set win at Belmont. The Panthers are .500 in conference play with a 7-7 mark and tied for sixth with Belmont.Junior outside hitter/setter Taylor Smith led EIU with 10 kills at SIUE on Wednesday and freshman outside hitter Laurel Bailey had nine on Saturday at Belmont. Eastern Illinois faces UT Martin in Martin, Tennessee on Friday before traveling to Cape for Saturday's season finale.
 
EIU was selected to finish the season 11th in the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll.
 
Let's Recap  
Southeast fell in both of their matches last weekend. The Redhawks took the first two sets on Murray State on Friday but lost 2-3 in Murray, Kentucky. On Saturday, SEMO fell to Austin Peay in straight sets. Ally Dion led the team defensively with 42 digs including a 30-dig outing on Friday against the Racers. Setter Allie Henkelman had a team-high 44 assists over the two matches. Offensively, Krissa Gearring led the Redhawks with 31 kills and had 25 digs.
 
Digs a Plenty
Ally Dion, Marie Less and Krissa Gearring each recorded 20-plus dig performances last Friday at Murray State. Dion and Less each notched career-highs with 30 digs and 29 digs each. Gearring added 21. The Racers also posted the feat with Becca Fernandez (26), Rachel Holthaus (20) and Rachel Giustino (20) all having 20 or more dig nights. In 2017, there have been 12 three player 20-dig efforts and in the history of NCAA Division I volleyball it has only happened 35 times.
 
Making it Look Ea"Z"y
Senior Nzingha Clarke now ranks 10th all-time in program history for career total blocks with 446. Clarke had 10 total blocks over the weekend to surpass Brenna Schlader who had 438 total blocks from 2004-07. Clarke also ranks 11th all-time in career block assists with 325 behind Theresa Sebacher who recorded 328 from 1993 to 1996.
 
Clarke leads the conference and ranks 18th in the NCAA with 131.0 total blocks (26 solo and 105 assists) this season. Clarke is also first in the OVC with 1.27 block per set. Offensively, Clarke is first in the OVC with a .378 hitting percentage. In solely conference matches, Clarke leads the league with a .389.
 
Da Ally D Show
Freshman libero Ally Dion posted a career-high 30 digs on Friday at Murray State. She then added 12 more on Saturday at Austin Peay for 42 digs over the two matches. Dion ranks seventh in the OVC for conference matches with 4.18 digs per set.
 
Less is More
Senior Marie Less showcased her versatility on Friday against Murray State. Less recorded a career-high 29 digs and matched her season-high of 8 kills in Murray, Kentucky. She also added two service aces. Less has been used primarily as a defensive specialist in 2017 but was first utilized as an outside hitter on Oct. 24 against UT Martin (eight kills). From Oct. 24 to Nov. 3, she posted seven or more kills along with nine or more digs in three straight matches.
 
Gearring the Terminator
Senior Krissa Gearring posted 31 kills this past weekend and now has 1,274 career kills which puts her eighth all-time in program history for career kills. She is now one kill behind Angi Aschoff (1,275 career kills from 1996-99) for seventh all-time.
 
Gearing also ranks third in Redhawks history with 3,970 career attack attempts. She is also third all-time in SEMO history for attack attempts in a single-season with 1,440 in 2016. In the OVC, she is sixth in conference matches with 3.44 kills per set and seventh with 3.90 points per set.
 
Gearring is one of 27 NCAA Division I volleyball players to reach the milestone of 1,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs in 2017. She is only one of two OVC players to hold this distinction this season with 1,274 kills and 1,230 digs in her career as a Redhawk.
 
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.