DES MOINES, Iowa – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (5-4) fell in their Drake Invitational doubleheader Friday at the Knapp Center.
The Redhawks lost a hard fought five-set match to Montana (4-3) 12-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-22, 12-15 in the morning and then were swept by tournament host, Drake (7-2), 20-25, 15-25, 18-25 in their afternoon meeting.
Montana 3, Southeast Missouri 2 (25-12, 25-21, 17-25, 22-25, 15-12)
The Redhawks dropped the opening two sets, 12-25, 21-25, before winning the third and fourth sets, 25-17, 25-22. In the fifth set, the Grizzlies outlasted SEMO 15-12. Friday's match with Montana marked the fourth straight five-set match for Southeast.
Sophomore outside hitter
Mikayla Kuhlmann led Southeast with her second-straight double-double performance. Kuhlmann racked up a team-high 13 kills and 13 digs.
Setter
Keegan Fornoff led the Redhawks with 28 assists and
Allie Henkelman added 13 assists.
Nzingha Clarke posted a team-best seven blocks and
Emily Boggetto added 12 digs.
In the first set, the Griz jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Southeast recorded kills from
Madara Bajare, Kuhlmann and
Krista Berns to cut the deficit in half, 10-5. Clarke and Kuhlmann added two more kills to bring SEMO's point total in the first set to 12 but Montana would roll to a 25-12 set win.
The second set was more competitive but the Grizzlies started the match with a 7-2 lead. Two kills from Bajare and a block from Clarke and Kuhlmann made the score 7-5. Fornoff notched two aces to give Southeast a 17-13 lead before Montana went on a five-point rally to take an 18-17 lead. SEMO would tie the set at 18-18 and 19-19 before Montana closed the set with kills from Missy Huddleston, Baily Permann, Cassie Laramee and McKenzie Kramer.
The Redhawks responded with victories in the third and fourth sets with 11 and 17 team kills. Southeast hit a match-best .458 in the third set.
Kills by
Madeline Grimm, Berns and Kuhlmann opened the third set in Southeast's favor, 4-1. Boggetto then increased the Redhawks lead to 10-5 with a service ace and Grimm slammed a kill for a 25-17 third set win by SEMO.
In the fourth set, Berns chipped in four of her eight total kills and Clarke recorded three of her five match kills as Southeast evened the match at 2-2. Kuhlmann added five kills in the fourth set alone.
Montana never relinquished the lead in the fifth set and received six kills from Laramee. Kills from Gearring cut the Grizzlies lead to 5-4 and then 7-5. Southeast took a timeout with the Griz up 10-5 and came within two points in the final set. With a block from Bajare and Clarke to make the score 14-12, Montana called their timeout before Hammer hammered a kill to seal the set at 15-12.
Drake 3, Southeast Missouri 0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-18)
The Redhawks struggled offensively in their second match on Friday, hitting a .034 team clip and recording 28 kills in the contest.
The first set was a back and forth affair that featured 13 ties including a 20-20 score line courtesy of a Bajare kill. The Bulldogs rallied off the five final points to take the opening set 25-20. Grimm recorded four of her team-leading seven kills in the first set. Gearring, Berns and Bajare each added two kills in the first set.
Drake then won the second and third sets 25-15 and 25-18. The Bulldogs never trailed in the second set.
Southeast started the third set with a 6-2 edge after back-to-back blocks from Clarke and Bilbruck. Clarke led the team with six blocks and Bilbruck added four more. Drake then went on runs of 5-0 and 6-0 to close out the set and win the match. Kyla Inderski recorded seven kills for the Bulldogs in the final set with four coming down the final stretch.
Grimm also added seven digs. Fornoff and Henkelman each dished out 11 assists. Defensively, Boggetto collected 20 digs.
SEMO faces the Omaha (Nebraska) Mavericks in their Drake Invitational finale tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. at the Knapp Center.
