CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (8-6, 0-1) opened its Ohio Valley Conference schedule Friday evening with a tight 20-25, 22-25, 24-26 loss to 2017 OVC Champion Austin Peay (11-2, 1-0) at Houck Field House.
 
Laney Malloy and Haley Bilbruck led the Redhawks offense with 11 kills apiece and Mikayla Kuhlmann added eight in the OVC opener.
 
Maggie Adams was a presence on the net, tallying seven blocks as the Redhawks out blocked APSU 8-7.
 
The first set of the match was a highly contested race to 10. Austin Peay grabbed a 10-7 lead on a Redhawks error before three more unanswered points brought the edge to 13-7. Trailing 16-9, Southeast mounted a 5-0 run to come within two points, 16-14 and force a Governors timeout. In that rally, Claire Ochs recorded two kills, Malloy notched a winner and Emily Boggetto landed a service ace.
 
Out of the break, APSU extended its lead in the opening set to 19-15 with back-to-back kills from Brooke Moore and Logan Carger. The Govs would grow that lead to 23-19 as SEMO came within three points on a Bilbruck rally stopper, 23-20, before Austin Peay claimed the set 25-20.
 
In the second set, kills from Malloy tied the contest at 6-6, 7-7 and 8-8 before Austin Peay pulled ahead 11-9. Madeline Grimm evened the set at 11-11 with a service ace as the Governors answered with an 18-14 lead on a Moore kill.
 
Southeast would then cut the deficit to a point on a block assist from Ochs and Adams, 17-18. Kuhlmann then added a kill to make the score 20-21 and Malloy chipped in a winner to bring the set to 22-23. The Governors responded with two straight points to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
With their backs against the wall, SEMO jumped to a 5-0 lead in the third set and extended that edge to 8-4 on a Kuhlmann kill. Block assists from Adams and Bilbruck coupled with a Governors attack error extended the advantage to 14-9, which forced an APSU timeout.
 
A Moore kill moved the lead for Southeast to only a point, 20-19, as the Governors tied the set at 21-21 before a Malloy winner moved the lead back into the Redhawks favor 23-21.
 
Bilbruck would add a kill before a 4-0 run from Austin Peay captured the set, 26-24, to claim the match.
 
Ochs dished out 35 kills and added 16 digs for her seventh career double-double. Ally Dion chipped in 13 digs defensively and Malloy had 10 to achieve a double-double outing.
 
Moore finished the evening with 11 kills and 12 digs for Austin Peay.
 
Southeast faces Murray State Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Houck Field House to continue its OVC slate.