CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (12-7, 4-1 OVC) swept Eastern Illinois (1-16, 0-5 OVC), 25-22, 25-16, 25-16, Friday night at Houck Field House to extend its Ohio Valley Conference win streak to three matches.
 
The sweep was the sixth for the Redhawks in 2019 and the second in OVC play. 
 
Southeast utilized a balanced attack with Krista Berns and Laney Malloy leading the way with eight kills each. Annie Wehrheim added seven while Mikayla Kuhlmann had six and Maggie Adams registered five. SEMO connected at a .253 hitting clip in the 3-0 win.
 
The Panthers opened the match with a 6-2 lead in the first set that grew to 12-6. Southeast responded with an 8-1 run to pull ahead 14-13.
 
Back-to-back EIU errors pushed the edge to 16-14.
 
Berns then blasted a kill as Southeast distanced themselves from the Panthers, 21-19.
 
Bailey Chandler and Katie Sommer each hit kills to tie the set at 21-21 and prompt a SEMO timeout.
 
Out of the break, Kuhlmann notched a kill before a block assist from Claire Ochs and Adams brought on set point, 24-21. 
 
Malloy then sealed the set with a rally stopper, 25-22.
 
In the second frame, Southeast jumped out to an 11-0 advantage that opened with an Ochs kill and concluded with an Ochs service ace.
 
Consecutive kills from Berns coupled with an ace by Emily Boggetto made the edge, 17-6. 
 
Malloy chipped in a kill to bring the score to 21-10.
 
The Panthers came as close as 22-16 before Southeast closed out the set, 25-16. 
 
SEMO grabbed the match with an identical 25-16 third and final set. 
 
Like the opening frame, EIU extended its lead early to 8-3 before Southeast stormed back with five straight points that included a pair of service aces from Boggetto to knot the set at 8-8. 
 
Three kills from Kuhlmann gave the Redhawks a four point cushion, 14-10, before a rally stopper from Wehrheim along with a service ace from Ally Dion made the scoreboard read, 19-13. 
 
With the ace, Dion has now tied Jade Mortimer (2013-16) for the program record of 93 career service aces during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008-present).
 
Kills from Berns coupled with consecutive Boggetto service aces propelled the Redhawks to the 3-0 sweep with a 25-16 third set. 
 
Boggetto registered a career high five service aces Friday including four in the final set. Southeast finished with nine and led the service battle on EIU, 9-4. 
 
Ochs tallied a match high 30 assists with nine digs. 
 
Tara Beilsmith paced the defense with 12 digs and Malloy added eight.
 
Sommer led the Panthers with seven kills.
 
Former Redhawk Haley Bilbruck made her return to Houck Field House for the match but was on the opposing bench as the Eastern Illinois Volleyball Graduate Assistant. 
 
Southeast continues its homestand Saturday at Houck Field House when it hosts SIUE (8-9, 3-2 OVC). First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m., CT. The Cougars swept UT Martin Friday evening in Martin, Tennessee, 25-23, 25-16, 25-17.