MARTIN, Tenn. – Southeast Missouri (17-8, 9-2 OVC) fought past UT Martin (9-17, 5-6 OVC), 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-12, 15-13), Tuesday evening at the Skyhawk Fieldhouse to sweep the season series and extend its win streak to five matches.
The Ohio Valley Conference leading Redhawks earned their first victory over the Skyhawks in Martin, Tennessee, since Nov. 6, 2012 (3-1).
"I'm so proud of our fight and resilience tonight," head coach
Julie Yankus said after the match. "UT Martin played a great game and really forced us to dig deep and work hard for every single point. But we kept fighting and had to keep coming up with an answer. This was another good test to see how we respond to adversity. This is a great win for us tonight as we are about to face every team in our division for the second time."
The victory matched the 2013 Redhawks overall win total (17) and conference win total (9).
Southeast also improved to 3-1 in Tuesday mid-week matches with two wins over UT Martin and a non-conference victory at Saint Louis in 2019.
Annie Wehrheim and
Laney Malloy each posted a team high 13 kills in the match. Malloy also compiled 12 digs for the double-double.
Mikayla Kuhlmann added 12 kills.
Trailing 1-0 in the match, Southeast knotted the match at 1-1 with a 25-21 second set win. The second featured nine ties in a highly competitive frame where SEMO produced six blocks.
SEMO also mustered a commanding, 25-12, fourth set with its backs against the wall to force a 15-13 decisive fifth frame. Southeast notched a match-high .233 hitting clip in the fourth.
Deadlocked at 2-2, UT Martin opened the fifth set with a 3-1 lead after a Karen Scanlon kill.
Southeast then scored the next three points with back-to-back kills from Malloy who also teamed up with
Krista Berns for a block assist.
Wehrheim and Malloy then both posted kills for the slight Redhawks advantage, 6-5.
The Skyhawks responded with consecutive kills from Gintare Mackeviciute coupled with a rally stopper by Addison Conley to pull ahead 8-6 and bring on the changeover.
Two straight UTM attack errors evened the set at 8-8 before the Skyhawks inched ahead, 10-8, which prompted a Redhawks timeout.
Out of the break, Southeast scored the next four points on errors by UT Martin, for a 12-10 SEMO advantage.
A Kuhlmann kill made the score, 13-11, and Malloy chipped in her fourth kill of the frame for a 14-12 edge.
The Skyhawks came as close as 14-13 on a Logan Wallick kill before Wehrheim closed out the match with a rally stopper, 15-13.
Claire Ochs registered 39 assists and a career-best 25 digs for the double-double outing.
Tara Beilsmith was second on the Redhawks with 22 digs.
Southeast notched its second highest block total in 2019 with 15 Tuesday and out blocked UTM, 15-7.
Maggie Adams paced the Redhawks with a match-high nine.
Krista Berns added six and
Mikayla Kuhlmann chipped in four.
Mackeviciute had a match-high 17 kills and Kenzie Hinshaw totaled a match-high 52 assists.
Southeast next returns home to face Jacksonville State (14-8, 8-2 OVC) at Houck Field House on Saturday at 1 p.m. Saturday's match starts SEMO's final home stand as they also welcome Austin Peay (7-17, 5-5 OVC) and Murray State (13-9, 7-3 OVC) to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, Thursday, Nov. 7 and Friday, Nov. 8 to conclude its home schedule.
