CHARLESTON, Ill. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (20-10, 12-4 OVC) swept Eastern Illinois (3-26, 1-15 OVC), 25-12, 25-13, 25-13, in its regular-season finale Saturday evening at Lantz Arena for Southeast's 20th win in 2019 and 12th in conference play. 
 
With the victory, Southeast has earned the second seed in the 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Championship which will be contested at #1-seeded Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Alabama, Nov. 21-23. The Redhawks will face #7 Tennessee Tech Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at the Pete Mathews Coliseum. All matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
SEMO has now swept the regular-season series with the Panthers for the second-straight season. The win also matched Southeast's conference win total from 2012. 
 
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks offense Saturday with 13 kills and 12 digs on a .343 hitting clip for the double-double as SEMO connected at a .350 hitting clip compared to EIU's .050.
 
After opening the first set with an 0-4 hole, Southeast went on to score eight of the next 10 points to pull ahead early 8-6.
 
A kill from Claire Ochs coupled with a solo block by Maggie Adams made the lead 13-9. Adams added a kill before SEMO closed out the set with an 11-0 run that ate both of the Panthers timeouts. 
 
In the second frame, Southeast jumped out to an 8-4 lead that grew to a 14-4 margin on a 11-0 rally.
 
Mikayla Kuhlmann slammed consecutive kills to increase the advantage to 17-6. 
 
EIU came as close as 22-13 on a rally stopper from Kylie Michael.
 
Defensive specialist Ally Dion blasted a pair of kills down the stretch and Ochs teamed up for a block assist with Berns. 
 
Dion finished with a career-best three kills to complement her 13 digs. 
 
Southeast tallied a .452 hitting clip in the middle frame with 14 kills and no errors. 
 
SEMO once again took a commanding lead to start the third set, this time 16-3. 
 
A Malloy kill followed by three straight Eastern Illinois errors widened the gap to 20-7.
 
Kuhlmann connected with a kill before Malloy registered a solo block to capture the match with a 25-13 third set.
 
SEMO notched 42 kills compared to 25 for the Panthers. 
 
Southeast also had six aces while EIU finished with one. Emily Boggetto recorded three and Tara Beilsmith added two.
 
The Redhawks out blocked the Panthers, 6-3. Berns and Malloy each had three.
 
Adams and Kuhlmann each had six kills in the win while Annie Wehrheim and Ochs each posted five.
 
Ochs dished out 29 assists with seven digs as SEMO led the assist category, 41-19. 
 
Beilsmith led the defense with 21 digs. Boggetto finished with seven and Berns tied a season-best five. 
 
With the win, Southeast halts a two-match skid. The victory was also SEMO's 10th 3-0 sweep in 2019 and sixth in OVC competition. 
 
The Redhawks next head to Jacksonville, Alabama, for the 2019 OVC Championship. Southeast will take on #7 Tennessee Tech Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at the Pete Mathews Coliseum in Jacksonville, Alabama.