NEW ORLEANS, La. – Southeast Missouri (1-2) volleyball lost their third and final New Orleans Invitational match of the weekend to tournament host, the New Orleans Privateers, in five sets, 25-12, 18-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-12, Saturday afternoon at the Human Performance Center.

SEMO split their two matches on Friday with a loss to Fordham followed by a win over Alcorn State. Both matches were the first meetings in program history for both teams. The Redhawks capped their opening weekend tournament with a loss to the Privateers to start the season with a record ot 1-2. 

Senior middle blocker Nzingha Clarke and junior outside hitter Madeline Grimm were named to the 2017 New Orleans Invitational All-Tournament Team. Grimm recorded 13.5 points in the third match of the weekend via 12 kills, seven digs and an assist. Clarke chipped in seven kills and four total blocks. 

SEMO lost the first set 25-12 before bouncing back to win the second and third sets 25-18 and 25-19. The Redhawks jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set from consecutive kills from Clarke, Haley Bilbruck and Mikayla Kuhlmann.
 
Grimm added back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 7-3 and Kuhlmann had six of her 14 kills in the second set alone. Madara Bajare and Clarke combined for a monster block to close out the set, 25-18.
 
Krista Berns recorded two service aces and a kill while serving out the last five points of the set.
 
Berns added two more aces in the third set and provided three consecutive block assists (two with Grimm, one with Bajare) as the Redhawks powered through the third set 25-19 to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Berns finished the match with six total blocks to lead the team.
 
The Privateers responded with a 25-19 fourth set win to force the decisive fifth set.
 
Southeast jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the final set with kills from Clarke, Grimm and Bilbruck. New Orleans then rallied off four-straight points to take a 9-5 lead prompting a Redhawks timeout. SEMO chipped away at the Privateers lead with kills from Bilbruck, an ace from Kuhlmann along with blocks from Clarke and Bilbruck to come within two points (14-12) of the home team, but couldn't finish the comeback.
 
Setter Keegan Fornoff led the team with 20 assists and Allie Henkelman compiled 14 in the loss. Fornoff also had five digs and a kill in the match.
 
Libero Emily Boggetto recorded a team-high 18 digs to lead the team defensively. She also chipped in five assists.
 
Southeast hosts the Redhawks Invitational for the team's home opener Sept. 1-2 at the Show Me Center. SEMO welcomes the Morgan State Bears, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions and the Evansville Purple Aces to Cape Girardeau for the two-day tournament.
 
The Redhawks face Morgan State in their first tournament match on Sept. 1 at 12:30 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. contest against the Golden Lions. Southeast takes on Evansville at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2 to finish the tournament.