CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Southeast Missouri volleyball (3-2) opened their home schedule with two straight-set victories over Morgan State (0-5) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-5) on Friday at the 2017 Redhawks Invitational at the Show Me Center.
 
SEMO opened the day with a 25-16, 26-24, 26-24 win over the Lady Bears of Morgan State and then defeated the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions 25-12, 25-13, 25-18 in the Redhawks Invitational night cap.
 
"A lot of the success today attributes to having a lot of hitters contributing," coach Julie Yankus said of the six set performance. "We had a very well balanced offense tonight against Pine Bluff, which really made them struggle. I'm really happy for the team. It's great to walk out tonight with two wins."
 
Senior outside hitter Krissa Gearring recorded a team-high 15 kills in the first match against the Lady Bears and added eight more in the win over the Golden Lions to surpass 1,000 career kills as a Redhawk.
 
"A very well deserved honor for Krissa Gearring today," Yankus said of the accomplishment. "One thousand kills is a huge milestone for any collegiate player so this is a very big deal. For her to do it this soon in her senior year is great and I can't wait till she reaches that 1,000 dig mark as well because that is coming up next."
 
Gearring increased her career digs total to 989 with nine against Morgan State and seven with the win over the Golden Lions.
 
Southeast Missouri 3, Morgan State 0 (25-16, 26-24, 26-24)
 
SEMO jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the match thanks to a service ace from freshman Ally Dion to cap the opening set, 25-16. Southeast and Morgan State swapped points before the Redhawks went on a 7-0 run to increase their lead to 19-12 and eventually break away for good.
 
The second and third sets were more competitive and Southeast needed to come from behind in both sets.
 
Morgan State had leads of 18-13 and 20-17 before the Redhawks pulled off their second set comeback. Junior rightside hitter Madara Bajare notched three kills and averaged a .600 hitting percentage in the second set alone. Bajare and junior outside hitter Madeline Grimm combined for three kills to bring the score within one point at 18-17. Senior middle blocker Nzingha Clarke added three kills down the stretch to finish the set, 26-24.
 
Clarke and Grimm each chipped in seven kills in Friday afternoon's home opener.
 
SEMO finished the match with another comeback, this time from a 20-14 deficit in the third set. Gearring had seven of her team-high 15 kills in the final set and sophomore Krista Berns and Clarke combined for the block to seal the match at 26-24. Berns led the team with three blocks and three services aces.
 
Dion had eight digs defensively as libero and setter Keegan Fornoff handed out a team-high 22 assists.
 
Gearring finished the match with a team-high hitting percentage of .538.
 
Southeast Missouri 3, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 0 (25-12, 25-13, 25-18)
 
SEMO clinched their second win of the Redhawks Invitational in their evening set against the Golden Lions.
 
Gearring led the team again in hitting with a .500 clip and Berns led Southeast with nine kills and four blocks.
 
SEMO went on an 8-2 run to close out the first set on Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Dion hit seven straight serves to bring the Southeast lead to 24-10. She had four of her five services aces in the opening set alone. 
 
The Redhawks continued their dominance in the second set, with a convincing 25-13 win and followed it up with a 25-18 third set to seal the match. Southeast hit a set-best .375 hitting percentage in the second set.
 
Fornoff tallied a team-high 16 assists and Allie Henkelman added 15. Dion started for the second straight game at libero and recorded 12 digs.
 
Offensively, Grimm, Bajare and Clarke all chipped in six kills each.
 
Southeast closes the Redhawks Invitational on Saturday at 2 p.m. with a meeting against undefeated Evansville (5-0).
 
Evansville continued their perfect 2017 season with wins over Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Morgan State on Friday. Morgan State takes on the Golden Lions in the first match at 11 a.m.