CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (9-6, 1-0 OVC) opened Ohio Valley Conference play Tuesday evening with a 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-13) win over UT Martin (4-11, 0-1 OVC) in front of 823 fans at Houck Field House for the annual Redhawks Houck "Filled" House match. 
 
"We had a great environment in Houck tonight for our first OVC match of the year," head coach Julie Yankus said. "We truly appreciate all the fans that came out for the match tonight. We really thrive in a setting where we have a lot of fans cheering us on. We are excited to start conference play with a big home win in front an amazing crowd."

The victory extended Southeast's win streak to five.
 
Mikayla Kuhlmann (.400) and Laney Malloy led the Southeast offense with 11 kills each and Annie Wehrheim added 10.
 
Malloy chipped in 11 digs for the double-double outing. Claire Ochs also tallied a double-double with 10 digs to complement her 36 assists.
 
SEMO jumped out to a 1-0 advantage in the match with a 25-13 first set. The Redhawks connected at a .267 pace as Kuhlmann led the way with four.
 
The two teams used the race to the 10-point plateau to feel each other out before Southeast took command of the set. 
 
Leading by a point, 8-7, SEMO went on a 6-1 run to pull ahead 14-8 and prompt a Skyhawks timeout. Kuhlmann (2), Wehrheim and Adams all had kills in the rally. 
 
Out of the break, the Redhawks extended its margin to 18-9 after a 4-0 run punctuated by a Malloy winner. 
 
Gintar Mackeviciute hit a kill to cut the lead to 18-10 before another 4-0 SEMO rally. Krista Berns and Wehrheim teamed up for a block to push the advantage to 22-10.
 
Kylie Plant registered her first career kill as a Redhawk to make the score 24-12 before Berns sealed the opening set victory with a rally stopper, 25-13. 
 
Southeast hit a match-high .355 in the second frame to head to the locker room with a 2-0 lead in hand.
 
The second set started like the former with a tight battle to open the contest. 
 
Kuhlmann blasted a kill to tie the set at 10-10 and start a 6-0 rally that brought the lead to 15-10 in favor of the Redhawks.
 
Ochs placed two services aces in the rally and matched a career best three Tuesday. 
 
Tara Beilsmith then delivered consecutive aces after a Wehrheim kill to bring the advantage to 19-13.
 
The Skyhawks came as close as 24-17 after an Ochs kill and an ace from Malloy.
 
Malloy then concluded the set, 25-17, with a kill. 
 
UT Martin responded in the third set, coming out with an 8-3 lead that grew to 14-11.
 
The Skyhawks continued to have command of the frame, extending their advantage to 18-14 which brought on SEMO's second timeout of the set. 
 
Back-to-back kills from Berns and Kuhlmann cut the UTM advantage to one, 21-20. Adams added a rally stopper to keep the deficit at one, 23-22, before the Skyhawks wrapped up the frame, 25-22.
 
Southeast then grabbed its first conference win of the 2019 campaign with a 25-13 fourth set behind a .312 hitting clip.
 
Kills from Malloy and Ochs along with an Emily Boggetto service gave the Redhawks an early 9-4 lead in the final set. 
 
Wehrheim then slammed a kill to increase the advantage to 17-10. 
 
Southeast then closed out the frame with an 8-2 run.
 
Plant sealed the match, 25-13, on her second swing of the night as she posted a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage with two kills. 
 
For the third straight Tuesday, Southeast registered double-digit service aces with 11. Beilsmith and Ochs each had three while Boggetto and Malloy both had two apiece. Ally Dion also had an ace. 
 
The Redhawks out blocked UT Martin, 7-1. Wehrheim and Adams each had five and Berns added two. 
 
Beilsmith paced the defense with 21 digs and Boggetto had a season high 12.
 
Southeast next heads to Cookeville, Tennessee, Saturday to face Tennessee Tech to continue its OVC schedule. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday's match against the Eagles starts a three-match road swing for the Redhawks.