Southeast Missouri (9-6, 1-1)
vs. Eastern Illinois (6-11, 1-1)
Match Information
Date: Friday, Sept. 28, 2018
First Serve: 7 p.m., CT
Location: Charleston, Ill.  
Venue: Lantz Arena
Series: Southeast leads all-time series 33-21-1
Video: OVC Digital Network
Live Stats: SIDEARM Live Stats
 
vs. SIUE (2-12, 1-1)
Match Information
Date: Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018
First Serve: 2 p.m., CT
Location: Edwardsville, Ill.   
Venue: Vadalabene Center
Series: SIUE leads all-time series 10-7
Video: OVC Digital Network
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Complete Match Notes: Southeast Missouri (PDF)
 
Redhawks Continue Conference Schedule with Weekend Trip to EIU and SIUE
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (9-6, 1-1) continues its Ohio Valley Conference schedule with its first two conference road matches of the season at Eastern Illinois (6-11, 1-1) and SIUE (2-12, 1-1). Southeast faces EIU Friday at 7 p.m. at Lantz Arena in Charleston, Illinois, before a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee match with the Cougars at the Vadalabene Center in Edwardsville, Illinois. 
 
Follow the Redhawks
• Stats will be available for Southeast's matches on Friday and Saturday on GoSoutheast.com.
• @SEMOvb, the official Twitter page of Redhawks volleyball, will feature live in-game updates all season long.
 
Series History
Southeast leads the all-time series with Eastern Illinois, 33-21-1. The Redhawks split their two matches with the Panthers in 2017 with each team winning on home turf. Southeast was victorious in the most recent meeting, 3-2, on Saturday, Nov. 11, 2017 at Houck Field House to conclude the regular season. Haley Bilbruck led the offense with 15 kills and Krissa Gearring recorded her 12th double-double of 2017 with 13 kills and 17 digs.
 
SIUE has a slight 10-7 edge in the all-time series with Southeast. The Cougars took both meetings in 2017. The last meeting between the two clubs was a 3-2 win for SIUE on Nov. 20, 2017 at Houck Field House. Gearring led the Redhawks with 15 kills and 15 digs. Nzingha Clarke added 11 kills and Bilbruck had 8.
 
Scouting the Opponents
Panthers
Eastern Illinois is 6-11 (1-1 OVC) in 2018 and enters the match after a 3-2 win at Chicago State on Tuesday evening. Laurel Bailey collected her seventh double-double of the season finishing with 15 kills, 13 digs, three blocks, three assists, and an ace. Kylie Michael recorded her first career double-double, finishing with 11 digs, 10 kills, one ace, and one block. Last weekend the Panthers notched their first OVC win of 2018 with a 3-0 sweep of SIUE on Friday (Sept. 21) before falling to Tennessee State in Nashville, Tennessee, 0-3 on Saturday (Sept. 22). Bailey leads EIU in 2018 with 175 kills and has 174 digs. Anne Hughes paces the Panthers with 317 digs. Bailey Chandler tops the team with 277 assists and Gina Furlin has dished out 205 this season.
 
Eastern Illinois was chosen to finish eight in the OVC in 2018.
 
Cougars
SIUE has tallied just two wins this season and is 2-12 (1-1 OVC) overall. The Cougars beat Oral Roberts, 3-2, on Sept. 15 and then beat Belmont in Nashville, Tennessee, 3-0, last Saturday (Sept. 22). SIUE started the campaign with 11 straight losses before winning two of three matches. Rachel McDonald is the kills leader in 2018 with 115. Dylynn Otte has 99 and Hope Everett has 98. Mallory Nicholson has run the offense with a team high of 274 assists. McDonald also leads the team with 147 digs. 
 
SIUE was picked to finish third in the league this season. 
 
Redhawks Versus Illinois Schools in 2018
Southeast is 3-0 in 2018 against Illinois schools. During the non-conference slate, SEMO beat Southern Illinois, 3-0, on Sept. 4 in Cape and then had back-to-back 3-2 road victories over Western Illinois and Northern Illinois on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12. 
 
Southeast faces two more Illinois schools this weekend. The Redhawks travel to Charleston, Illinois, to face Eastern Illinois Friday at 7 p.m. and then meet SIUE in Edwardsville, Illinois, Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
500 Career Sets for Ochs
With 35 assists against Austin Peay on Friday (9/21) and 55 on Saturday (9/22) in the match with Murray State, freshman captain setter Claire Ochs has now surpassed 500 (580) in 2018. 
 
Ochs ranks third in the conference for total assists and 22nd in the nation. She is also fourth in the OVC with 10.18 assists per set. Serving, Ochs has compiled 19 aces which is third in the league. 
 
Redhawks Leading the Conference
Maggie Adams tops the conference with 1.09 blocks per set and total blocks with 62. 
 
Laney Malloy is first in the league with 555 total attacks. She is also second in the OVC with 215.0 points and 191 total kills.  
 
100 Career Wins
Redhawks Head Coach Julie Yankus eclipsed 100 career wins at Southeast with last Saturday's (9/22) 3-2 victory over Murray State. Yankus picked up her 50th career victory on Nov. 9, 2013 against Austin Peay, 3-0.
 
OVC Opening Weekend Recap
The Redhawks split their opening OVC weekend against the preseason first and second place finishers at Houck Field House. Southeast fell to 2017 OVC Champion Austin Peay, 0-3, on Friday (9/21) before fighting past 2018 OVC Preseason Champion Murray State, 3-2, Saturday (9/22). 
 
Southeast fell to Austin Peay in a tight 20-25, 22-25, 24-26 match on Friday (9/21). 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. Ally Dion chipped in 13 digs defensively and Malloy had 10 to achieve a double-double outing.
 
SEMO held off Murray State, 3-2 (28-26, 25-17, 21-25, 16-25, 15-9), Saturday (9/22) at Houck Field House for SEMO's first conference victory in 2018. The win also marked the first time the Redhawks had beat Murray State since Oct. 12, 2013 (3-0 in Murray, Kentucky) and the 100th career win for head coach Julie Yankus.
 
Laney Malloy led the offense with 18 kills in the match, including five in the fifth set on a .625 hitting clip. Malloy also had 17 digs for her sixth career double-double. Haley Bilbruck was second on the team with 11 kills and six total blocks. Krista Berns and Madara Bajare each chipped in nine kills.
 
Ochs recorded 55 assists and 16 digs for her eighth career double-double. Dion paced the defense with 18 digs and Kuhlmann added a season high of nine.

Looking Ahead
The Redhawks continue their conference schedule with a midweek matchup against UT Martin on Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 6:30 p.m. at Houck Field House. Southeast then hosts Tennessee Tech Saturday, Oct. 6 at 2 p.m. in Cape.
 
Non-Conference Recap
The Redhawks concluded their non-conference slate with an 8-5 mark (2-2 home, 4-1 away, 2-2 neutral) which matches the 2013 season when the team finished 17-16 (8-9 nonconference). SEMO started the season 5-0 for the team's best start to a season in its NCAA Division I era (1991). Prior to this year, Southeast had never opened a season during its DI era with five consecutive sweeps (15 sets). Southeast captured the 2018 Troy Invitational Championship to start the season with three, three-set sweeps over Southern, Southeastern Louisiana and Troy.
 
The Redhawks picked up a Tuesday night win at Evansville and beat Louisiana Monroe in their opening Redhawks Invitational match before losses to Radford and Northwestern State. Southeast then defeated regional rival Southern Illinois before dropping matches to Arkansas State, Providence and Missouri-Kansas City at the Kangaroo Classic.
 
SEMO ended non-conference play with wins at WIU and NIU last week. 
 
2017 OVC Recap
Southeast posted a 6-10 record in the OVC in 2018 to secure its first tournament berth since 2015 and 24th appearance in program history. As the eighth seed, the Redhawks met #1 seed Austin Peay in the first round in Clarksville, Tennessee. The Governors took the match, 3-0, before claiming the conference title in 2017. 
 
O Captains! My Captains!
Southeast Head Coach Julie Yankus announced on Aug. 20, Haley Bilbruck, Madeline Grimm and Claire Ochs were selected as team captains for the 2018 season. The trio were chosen to the leadership positions by their teammates.
 
Roster Breakdown
The Redhawks squad includes 16 student-athletes and features eight upperclassmen (four seniors and four juniors). Southeast returns 10 players from the 2017 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Team and only lost five letter winners. The 2018 squad features six newcomers including five freshmen and one transfer (sophomore).  
 
Despite losing All-OVC picks in Nzingha Clarke and Krissa Gearring, offensively the Redhawks return Mikayla Kuhlmann (205 kills, 2.38 kills/set), Haley Bilbruck (166 kills, 1.42 kills/set), Madara Bajare (130 kills) and Krista Berns (116 kills) who ranked third, fourth, fifth and sixth for winners in 2017. 
 
Keegan Fornoff returns at setter for her senior season and dished out 530 assists in 2017. Fornoff currently ranks fourth overall in SEMO program history (25-point rally scoring, 2008-present) with 1059 career assists. Freshman Claire Ochs joins Fornoff at the setter position.
 
Defensively, Ally Dion returns at the libero/defensive specialist position after she led the team in 2017 with 340 digs (3.33) as a freshman. Emily Boggetto is another returner at defensive specialist and was fourth on SEMO with 148 digs (2.96 digs/set) in 2017.
 
Oh, Hi Carly!
Carly Thomas joins the Redhawks in 2018 as an assistant coach after spending a year at Missouri State. Thomas coaches the setters and is responsible for travel, film exchange, home match management and academic development among other duties. Thomas was a standout player at Missouri State from 2010-13, starting in 107 of her 124 career matches at setter. She earned First-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference honors each of her final three seasons. An AVCA honorable mention All-American in 2013, Thomas ranked second in MSU history with 4,708 career assists and 12th with 1,201 digs, while adding 498 kills on a .257 hitting percentage. She added 177 blocks and four triple-doubles during her career as well.
 
Thomas most recently coached at her alma mater, assisting the MSU Beach Volleyball program during its inaugural season. Prior to that, she spent three years as an assistant coach at Ozark High School, earning Large Class Assistant Coach of the Year honors from the Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association in 2016. Thomas also spent the last four years coaching club volleyball for Springfield Juniors, leading her team to a berth in the USA Junior National Championships. 
 
OVC Preseason Poll
SEMO was chosen to finish ninth in the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Predicted Order of Finish, the league announced Aug. 14. The Redhawks received 95 points in the poll voted on by OVC coaches and sports information directors. Murray State was picked to finish first with 230 points and 10 first-place votes. 2017 OVC Champion Austin Peay earned 14 first-place votes and totaled 227 points for second. Rounding out the poll are SIUE (193), Eastern Kentucky (175), Belmont (152), Morehead State (129), Jacksonville State (125), Eastern Illinois (112), Southeast Missouri (95), Tennessee State (58), UT Martin (56), Tennessee Tech (32).
 
Redhawks Crushing it in the Classroom 
Southeast racked up multiple academic awards in the offseason. The Redhawks earned a NCAA Public Recognition Award based on their most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rates for the third-straight season. SEMO was also awarded their 11th American Volleyball Coaches Association AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2017-2018 season after registering a 3.30 cumulative GPA.
 
Maggie Adams, Madara Bajare, Krista Berns, Haley Bilbruck, Keegan Fornoff, Marie Less and Jessica McElderry were each listed on the OVC's Commissioner's Honor Roll for the 2017-18 academic year after they achieved at least a 3.25 grade point average. Less also earned her second straight OVC Medal of Honor after she posted a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the 2017-18 academic year.