KANSAS CITY , Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball closed out the Kangaroo Classic Saturday at the Swinney Recreation Center with a pair of competitive losses (2-3 and 1-3).
 
Southeast dropped a decision to Providence (6-3) 21-25, 20-25, 27-25, 25-17, 12-15 and then lost to tournament host, Missouri-Kansas City (6-3) 25-18, 15-25, 22-25, 27-29. 
 
Laney Malloy was named to the all-tournament team after she led the Redhawks offense at the Kangaroo Classic with 58 kills (.287 hitting percentage). Malloy posted a career-best mark of 22 kills against Providence and then added 19 in the match with UMKC.
 
In the morning match with the Friars, SEMO rallied from an 0-2 deficit to even the match at 2-2 to force a second consecutive fifth set tiebreaker. 
 
Trailing 10-6 in the third set, the Redhawks went on a 5-0 run to take an 11-10 lead. A service ace from Malloy and a kill from Kendall Washington grew the SEMO lead to 22-20. 
 
Down the stretch, the set was tied at 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25 before another Washington rally stopper and a block from Krista Berns and Claire Ochs captured the set. 
 
Southeast then jumped to a 5-1 lead in the fourth set forcing a Providence timeout and then extended that advantage to 10-3 with a service ace from Emily Boggetto. 
 
Two more kills from Malloy extended the edge to 18-14 and SEMO took the set with five unanswered points including back-to-back service aces from Claire Ochs and block assists from Maggie Adams and Annie Wehrheim. 
 
In the crucial fifth set, Southeast and the Friars exchanged the lead in the early goings before three-straight points by Providence broke the deadlock, 8-6. A Malloy kill cut the Friars lead to a point, 11-10. She then added two more kills as SEMO came as close as 12-14 before Providence took the match with a 15-12 third set. 
 
Malloy and Ochs both recorded their second straight double-doubles. Malloy posted 11 digs to complement her 21 kills (.286 hitting clip) for her third career double-double and Ochs led the team with 49 assists and 25 digs for fourth career double-double. Ochs also had a personal best three service aces. 
 
Wehrheim improved on her personal-best kill mark of 12 kills on Friday with 13 against Providence. Washington tied a career best offensive outing with nine kills. 
 
Ally Dion matched her season best of 21 digs. 
 
Southeast then faced tournament host, UMKC, in their Kangaroo Classic Finale. The Redhawks won the opening set with a team hitting percentage of .464. 
 
Back-to-back kills from Malloy and Dion moved the score in favor of SEMO, 14-12, in the first set. Two more Malloy winners extended the advantage to 17-15 before a 5-0 run grew the lead to 23-17. Southeast then won the set with consecutive kills from Haley Bilbruck and Malloy. 
 
The Kangaroos evened the match with a 25-15 second set before taking a 2-1 lead with a 25-22 third set. 
 
A 4-0 run by the Redhawks that included a service ace from Dion cut the UMKC lead to a point, 21-20. Bilbruck and Kuhlmann then each tallied kills to tie the set at 22-22 before three straight points for the Kangaroos. 
 
In the fourth and final set, the Roos busted out to a 17-10 lead before SEMO mounted a 6-0 run to bring the score line within one, 16-17. Four consecutive points from the Redhawks including two service aces from Krista Berns and kills from Berns and Kuhlmann brought the lead to SEMO, 21-19. Kuhlmann then tied the set at 25-25 
 
Malloy then added a kill and Ochs and Berns teamed up for a block for a 27-26 SEMO lead before the Kangaroos closed the set to win the match with three straight points. 
 
Malloy led the Redhawks offensively with 19 kills and Kuhlmann chipped in 14. Bilbruck posted 10 on a .421 hitting clip.
 
Dion led the team with 16 digs. 
 
Ochs posted a career best 55 assists which marked her second 50 plus assist outing of the season. 
 
Southeast next travels to the Land of Lincoln for back-to-back matchups with Western Illinois and Northern Illinois on Tuesday, Sept. 11 and Wednesday, Sept. 12 to wrap up the non-conference schedule. SEMO faces the Leathernecks Tuesday night at 7 p.m. and then takes on the NIU Huskies in DeKalb, Illinois, Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Redhawks then open their 2018 Ohio Valley Conference slate on Friday, Sept. 21 at Houck Field House against 2017 OVC Champion Austin Peay.