NEW ORLEANS, La. – Southeast Missouri (1-1) volleyball split their first two matches of the 2017 season at the New Orleans Invitational Friday at the Human Performance Center.
 
The Redhawks fell in the first match to Fordham (1-0) 25-21, 25-9, 18-25, 25-19 but rebounded to defeat Alcorn State in straight sets 25-18, 25-13, 25-17.
 
"I'm pleased with the adjustments and improvements we made during our second match today," Southeast coach Julie Yankus said. "We kept focusing on the process and it was good to see the team continually try to make small improvements throughout the match."
 
Fordham 3, Southeast Missouri 1 (25-21, 25-9, 18-25, 25-19)
 
The Rams jumped out to an early 5-0 lead in the first set but the Redhawks clawed their way back to make the score, 6-3. The first set featured seven tie scorelines and four lead changes.
 
Junior setter Keegan Fornoff rallied off three straight aces to bring the opening game to 20-20 but SEMO would only score one more point as the Rams took the first game 25-21. Fornoff ended the match with four aces from the service line.
 
The Redhawks only managed to earn nine points in the second set as Fordham extended their lead to 2-0 in the match with a 25-9 win.
 
In the third set, Yankus switched to sophomore Emily Boggetto at the libero position. Freshman Ally Dion started for SEMO at the back row position.
 
The third set was the most productive hitting-wise for Southeast. The team hit a .375 clip and converted on 76 percent of their side outs. Sophomore Mikayla Kuhlmann converted a huge kill to bring the score to 24-18 before SEMO finished the set 25-18.
 
Southeast fell in the fourth set 25-19 to lose their first match of the season.
 
Senior outside hitter Krissa Gearring led the team with nine kills and senior middle blocker Nzingha Clarke added seven kills.
 
Southeast Missouri 3, Alcorn State 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-17)
 
In the second match of the day, the Redhawks faced the Alcorn State Lady Braves (0-2). Southeast took the opening set 25-18 over Alcorn State. The first set was deadlocked at 12-12 and 13-13 before SEMO took the set under control. The Lady Braves would only score five more points as Southeast pulled away to take the game.
 
The Redhawks battled past the Lady Braves in the second set thanks to a 5-0 rally that brought Southeast's lead to 15-5. Kuhlmann had two service aces and Haley Bilbruck added a kill and a dual block with Nzingha Clarke to punctuate the run. Bilbruck finished the match with five kills and Clarke added seven kills with four blocks. Southeast closed out the set 25-13.
 
"It was great to see Haley come alive this afternoon as well," Yankus said of Bilbruck who joined the team as a junior transfer from UNLV. "She found different ways to score, even when the set wasn't quite there."
 
Kuhlmann continued her dominance into the third set adding six kills to finish the second match with a team-high 11. She also added four blocks and four digs and accounted for 15.5 points.
 
"Mikayla had a solid performance this afternoon and she did a great job staying aggressive after mistakes," Yankus said of Kuhlmann's career best outing. "She did very well offensively and owned the net as a blocker."
 
Southeast led the whole third set and received two aces and two kills from junior outside hitter Madeline Grimm to seal the third set 25-17 to win the match.
 
The Redhawks finish the New Orleans Invitational tomorrow when they face tournament host, New Orleans, at 1 p.m. CT at the Human Performance Center.