CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (10-7, 2-1 OVC) fought past Austin Peay (4-13, 2-1 OVC), 3-2 (25-21, 29-27, 20-25, 27-29, 15-13), Friday evening at the Winfield Dunn Center for Southeast's first victory over the Governors since Sept. 26, 2015.
The win also marked the first in Clarksville, Tennessee, since Oct. 7, 2011.
"I'm very proud of how this team rallied together tonight," head coach
Julie Yankus said after the match. "This was a true team effort. When things weren't going our way, our bench continued to cheer and spread their enthusiasm to the rest of the team."
Southeast notched a program-record 23 blocks in the match as they out blocked the Governors, 23-11.
Maggie Adams led the Redhawks with a career best 11 while
Krista Berns added seven.
Mikayla Kuhlmann and
Annie Wehrheim each had career highs of six. Southeast total 6.0 in the second set.
"We had some great defensive plays this evening," Yankus said. "Our blockers did a great job getting positive touches so we could earn transition kills. Tara, Claire, and Laney really did a great job covering the court defensively."
Annie Wehrheim led the offense with a season high 20 kills on a .296 clip.
Laney Malloy added 16 kills with 20 digs and Kuhlmann chipped in 12 kills.
Southeast grabbed the opening two sets, 25-21, 29-27, before Austin Peay who was pegged to finish second this season in the Ohio Valley Conference stormed back with 25-20, 27-29 third and fourth sets to force a decisive final frame.
A kill from Wehrheim pulled Southeast within a point, 3-2, early in the fifth set.
Back-to-back kills from Berns then knotted the set at 6-6 before a Malloy ace gave the Redhawks a slight edge.
Kuhlmann and Adams combined for a block assist to make the score 9-8.
Kuhlmann added a kill before Wehrheim slammed a rally stopper to tie the set at 11-11.
Malloy then registered a solo block before a Governors error brought on an Austin Peay timeout at 13-11.
Out of the break, Brook Moore tallied a kill before an Austin Peay error tied the contest for the final time Friday, 13-13.
Wehrheim slammed a kill and then Malloy and Berns teamed up for the block to seal the win, 15-13.
Southeast jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match behind a .342 hitting clip. Wehrheim, Malloy and Kuhlmann each had four kills in the first frame.
A Malloy service ace followed by a block assist by Berns and Ochs extended the margin to 12-4 in the first set. SEMO then grew its advantage to 20-10 before Malloy notched a kill for set point, 24-15.
Austin Peay fended off seven set points before conceding a service error, 25-21.
The second set was a highly competitive contest that featured 13 ties and four lead changes and needed extra innings to settle.
Consecutive rally stoppers from Berns and Kuhlmann provided the Redhawks with a one point advantage, 19-18. Berns added another to bring the set to 24-23.
Down the stretch, the score was tied at 24-24, 25-25, 26-26 and 27-27 before a block by Adams and a Governors attack error concluded the frame in SEMO's favor 29-27.
Claire Ochs dished out a season high 53 assists and had 19 digs defensively.
Tara Beilsmith led the team defensively with a 24-dig outing.
With seven total blocks (two solo, five assists), Berns now ranks fourth all-time in Southeast program history (25-point rally scoring era from 2008-present) with 284 career total blocks. She overtook
Kelsey Keeves who had 278 career total blocks from 2011-14.
Ally Dion placed two service aces and is now one away from tying Jade Mortimer's 93 career service aces (2013-16) for first in program history (25-point rally scoring era from 2008-present).
Southeast closes out its three-match road stretch Saturday against Murray State at 6 p.m. at Racer Arena.
