CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – #6-seed Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (16-14) fell to #3 Morehead State (21-9), 23-25, 10-25, 19-25, in its first round Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship match Thursday morning at the Winfield Dunn Center on the campus of top ranked Austin Peay.
Second-Team All-OVC honorees
Annie Wehrheim and
Haley Bilbruck led the offense Thursday. Wehrheim notched seven kills and Bilbruck tallied six.
Southeast jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the opening set after a 4-0 run that included kills from Wehrheim and
Krista Berns and a service ace from
Keegan Fornoff.
Morehead State then answered with a 7-0 rally after its timeout to pull ahead, 10-8, which prompted a SEMO timeout before the Eagles grew their lead to 15-8.
A kill from
Laney Malloy coupled with a
Maggie Adams block cut the advantage to 19-12. The Redhawks then chipped away at the lead to pull within two points, 23-21, after five straight consecutive points that featured kills from Bilbruck, Wehrheim, block assists from Wehrheim and Berns, and another service ace from Fornoff.
Fornoff finished the contest with a season-best two service aces.
Two errors by MSU brought the Redhawks within a point, 24-23, before the Eagles took the set on a kill from Jessie Wachtman.
Morehead State then extended its lead in the match to 2-0 with a 25-10 second set.
Down two sets, SEMO and the Eagles traded the lead early in a third frame that had seven tie score lines. A rally stopper from Wehrheim evened the set at 12-12 before a 5-1 run from MSU put the Eagles up 17-13.
Mikayla Kuhlmann then knocked a kill as the Redhawks pulled within three points, 19-16. Morehead State responded with back-to-back blocks before Kuhlmann hit a kill and assisted on a block with Adams to make the score, 21-18.
The Eagles then rallied off three straight points to bring on match point, 24-18. Kuhlmann would add her sixth kill of the set before MSU captured the match on a kill from Wachtman.
Claire Ochs dished out 17 assists in the match and added 12 digs for her 19th career double-double.
Ally Dion led the Redhawks defensively with a team-high 13 digs.
Madeline Grimm added 11.
Adams paced the team with three blocks.
2018 OVC Player of the Year Olivia Lohmeier led the Eagles with a match-high 18 kills while Wachtman added 14.
With the win, Morehead State will face No. 2 Murray State in the semifinals Friday at 2:30 p.m.
Southeast finishes the 2018 season with an overall record of 16-14 and an 8-8 mark in conference play. SEMO has now tallied its highest win total (16) and conference win total (8) in the past five seasons.
