CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (19-9, 11-3 OVC) captured the opening set but dropped a 1-3 (25-21, 22-25, 19-25, 23-25) decision to Murray State (16-9, 10-3 OVC) Friday on Senior Night at Houck Field House. 
 
Prior to the match, Southeast recognized the careers of its four seniors Krista Berns, Emily Boggetto, Mikayla Kuhlmann and Annie Wehrheim.
 
Kuhlmann paced the Redhawks with 11 kills on a .300 hitting clip. Maggie Adams and Laney Malloy each added eight rally stoppers.
 
Berns and Wehrheim both finished with five kills apiece and Boggetto scooped up eight digs with two service aces. 
 
Southeast jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match behind a .333 opening set. 
 
Tied at 3-3 early, Wehrheim and Berns combined for a block assist before a Tara Beilsmith service ace pushed the advantage to 7-3. 
 
Kills from Ashley McBee and Rachel Giustino tied the set at 9-9 and 10-10.
 
SEMO then went on a 4-0 run to pull ahead, 14-10, and bring on a Racers timeout. Kuhlmann notched a pair of kills in the rally and Adams chipped in one. 
 
Boggetto delivered a service ace to increase the lead to 19-13. 
 
Rally stoppers from Claire Ochs and Kuhlmann then made the scoreboard reflect 22-17 Southeast.
 
Murray State responded with three-straight points including a pair of kills from Emily Matson and Giustino to cut the edge to 22-20 and prompt a Redhawks timeout. 
 
Out of the break, Kuhlmann slammed a kill and the Racers recorded a ball handling error for set point, 24-20. 
 
Giustino added a kill before defensive specialist Ally Dion ripped a kill from the back row for the 25-21 first set win. 
 
The Racers didn't back down and answered with three straight set (22-25, 19-25, 23-25) victories to claim the match and even the 2019 regular-season series at 1-1. 
 
Ochs dished out 36 assists Friday evening. Malloy matched a career-best four. 
 
Beilsmith paced the defense with 22 digs and Malloy chipped in 13. Ochs posted eight and Dion had six. Berns registered a season-high five digs. 
 
Southeast totaled six aces in the match compared to Murray State's three.
 
The Redhawks and Racers each had six blocks. Wehrheim and Adams both had four. 
 
McBee totaled a match-high 52 assists and Giustino led the MSU offense with 20 kills. Rachel Holthaus had 16. 
 
With the loss, Southeast's win streak was snapped at seven matches. 
 
SEMO concludes its 2019 regular season on the road with trips to Edwardsville, Illinois, and Charleston, Illinois, next Friday and Saturday. The Redhawks face SIUE on Friday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m. at the First Community Arena at the Vadalabene Center and then take on Eastern Illinois Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. at Lantz Arena.
 
The 2019 Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Championship will follow Thursday, Nov. 21 through Saturday, Nov. 23 at the site of the regular-season OVC Champion.