Southeast Falls in Four Sets to Omaha

Saturday, September 9

Des Moines, Iowa

1:30PM

Southeast Missouri State University

5-5

Omaha

3-7

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Southeast Missouri	25	28	14	23	1
Omaha	23	30	25	25	3

Allie Henkelman set 2017 Redhawks Invitational Banner

Photo by: Marc Mahnke

9/9/2017 4:20:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score PDF Box Score

DES MOINES, Iowa – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (5-5) lost their third and final Drake Invitational match Saturday in four sets to Omaha (3-7), 25-23, 28-30, 14-25, 23-25.

Krissa Gearring led the Redhawks offense with 14 kills and added 13 digs for her third double-double of the season. Nzingha Clarke chipped in 10 kills and posted a team-high six blocks with Madara Bajare. Bajare finished the invitational with 11 total blocks for tied for third this weekend.

Clarke was named to the 2017 Drake Invitational All-Tournament Team and led the tournament with 19 total blocks (1.58 block/set). This is Clarke's third straight all-tournament team honor this season. Southeast also led the tournament with 31 total blocks (2.58 block/set).

Setter Allie Henkelman dished out a team-best 17 assists and Keegan Fornoff added 15. Libero Emily Boggetto recorded 14 digs and also totaled two service aces in the match. Boggetto led the tournament with six aces (0.55 ace/set) over the weekend and SEMO finished second with 17 team aces (1.42 ace/set).

Gearring started the opening set with a service ace to give the Redhawks an early 1-0 lead and Fornoff bookended the set with a service ace of her own to give SEMO a 25-23 first set win. Nzingha Clarke added back-to-back kills before Fornoff finished the set. Clarke led Southeast in the first set with five kills and Gearring added four.

The second set needed extra innings and ended 30-28 in favor of the Omaha Mavericks. Krista Berns and Mikayla Kuhlmann combined for a block to even the set at 20-20. Omaha then posted three straight points, which SEMO answered with kills from Kuhlmann and Gearring along with a Mavericks attack error to tie the score at 23-23.

Kuhlmann then added an ace and Gearring recorded two kills to keep the score all square at 25-25 and 26-26. Clarke and Gearring then each notched a kill to give Southeast a 28-27 lead. Omaha rallied off three straight points to claim the second set.

The Mavericks extended their lead in the match with a 25-14 third set win. Freshman middle blocker Maggie Adams made an appearance in the set and recorded her first career collegiate kill.

Omaha closed out the match with a 25-23 fourth set. Defensive specialist Ally Dion and Boggetto each tallied a service ace in the set.

Kuhlmann evened the set at 15-15 with a kill and totaled eight over the course of the match. Omaha then rallied off four straight points to take a 20-15 lead before Gearring crushed a kill to bring SEMO within a point of the Mavericks at 23-24. Omaha held on to finish the set and win the match with a kill from Anna Blaschko.

Southeast travels to Carbondale, Ill. for a showdown with border rival, Southern Illinois, on Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 7 p.m. before they venture to the Windy City for the Chicago State Tournament Sept. 15-16 to conclude their nonconference schedule.