Southeast Missouri (9-6, 1-0)
at Tennessee Tech (4-10, 0-1)
Match Information
Date: Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019
Location: Cookeville, Tenn.
Venue: Hooper Eblen Center
First Serve: 2 p.m., CT
Series: Southeast leads 42-12
Video: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
 
Match Notes: Southeast Missouri
  
Southeast Heads to Tennessee Tech Saturday to Conclude Opening Week of Conference Play
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (9-6, 1-0 OVC) closes out the first week of Ohio Valley Conference matches with a trip to Cookeville, Tennessee, to face Tennessee Tech (4-10, 0-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Hooper Eblen Center.
 
Follow the Redhawks
• Stats will be available for Saturday's match on GoSoutheast.com.
• @SEMOvb, the official Twitter page of Redhawks volleyball, will feature live in-game updates all season long.
 
Scouting the Golden Eagles
Tennessee Tech holds a 4-10 overall record and dropped their league opener Wednesday in straight sets at Jacksonville State. Ali Verzani recorded a team-high eight kills. Carly Skrabak and Taylor Dorsey led the team defensively, tallying match-highs of 13 digs and four blocks, respectively. Ashley Hand garnered a team-high 24 assists in the loss.
 
In non-conference matches, the Eagles posted a 4-9 mark with wins over North Alabama, Manhattan College along with Western Illinois and Middle Tennessee this past weekend at their Golden Eagle Invitational Presented by Quality Inn. 
 
TTU was pegged to finish the season ninth in the OVC. Rachel Thomas was named to the 2019 Preseason All-OVC Team. 
 
Series History
Southeast leads the all-time series with the Golden Eagles, 42-12. The Redhawks overcame Tennessee Tech, 3-2, last season on Oct. 6, 2018 at Houck Field House in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Annie Wehrheim recorded a career best 24 kills including six in the fifth set in the contest. Claire Ochs had a team best 54 assists with 14 digs.
 
The Redhawks have won the last three matchups against TTU with the Golden Eagles posting a win in 2015 (10/3/15) which halted a 6-0 win streak for Southeast. 
 
Redhawk Open OVC Play with Victory
Southeast opened OVC play Tuesday with a 3-1 (25-13, 25-17, 22-25, 25-13) win over UT Martin in front of 823 fans at Houck Field House for the annual Redhawks Houck "Filled" House match. 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.
 
Freshman Kylie Plant was perfect on both of her swings, registering her first two career kills as a Redhawk down the stretch in the first and fourth sets. 
 
Aces Goin' Up on a Tuesday
For the third straight Tuesday midweek match, Southeast registered double-digit service aces with 11 in its Ohio Valley Conference opener with UT Martin on Sept. 24.
 
Claire Ochs and Tara Beilsmith each had three while Laney Malloy and Emily Boggetto chipped in two each. Ally Dion added one. 
 
The 12 service aces at Southern Illinois (9/10) and St. Louis (9/17) are the most for the Redhawks in a match since Sept. 12, 2014 when the team recorded the same feat against Savannah State. Southeast posted a program record 17 service aces on Sept. 24, 1994, against Tennessee Tech. 
 
Southeast ranks first in the conference and seventh nationally with 143 aces in 2019. SEMO is also 26th in all of NCAA Division I (1st in the OVC) with 1.79 aces per set.
 
Malloy tops the conference with 26 aces which ranks 12th nationally. Dion has totaled 20 this season for third in the OVC. Ochs is fourth in the league (19) and Beilsmith is sixth (17).
 
Dion is second in Southeast program history (25-point rally scoring era from 2008 to present) with 89 career service aces. Julie Shives totaled 87 career services from 2010 to 2013. Dion is four service aces away from tying Jade Mortimer (2013-2016) for first on the list with 93. 
 
Beale Street Challenge Champions
Southeast captured the 2019 Beale Street Challenge championship after posting a perfect 3-0 record this past weekend at Memphis. SEMO opened the tournament with a 3-1 victory over the Mid-American Conference's Toledo and a sweep of North Alabama. The Redhawks then presented Memphis of the American Athletic Conference with its first loss of 2019, a 3-1 decision, Saturday.
 
Beale Street Challenge All-Tournament Team
Claire Ochs was named the tournament MVP for the second time this season. Ochs has now been selected to four all-tournament teams in her career at Southeast. She finished the Challenge with 118 assists after passing out 44 Saturday with 12 digs and five kills. In four matches this past week, Ochs tallied 40 plus assists in three and averaged 41 per match.
 
Mikayla Kuhlmann and Maggie Adams were both named to their first career all-tournament teams. Kuhlmann led the Redhawks this past weekend in Memphis with 34 total kills including 13 (.280) last Saturday. She concluded the week with 51 total kills and compiled 17 in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, on Tuesday. Adams posted a career high nine kills on a .429 hitting clip last Saturday while finishing the tournament with 21 kills and six total blocks.
 
Saint Louis Recap
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball fought past Saint Louis (6-4), 3-2, on Sept. 17 at the Chaifetz Pavilion for Southeast's first victory over the Billikens since 2013. Southeast jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the match after a highly competitive 25-23 opening set that featured 11 ties and six lead changes. The Redhawks recaptured the advantage with a 25-16 third set, while swinging at a .500 pace.
 
St. Louis native Mikayla Kuhlmann led the Redhawks offensively, posting a season high 17 kills with eight digs on a .289 hitting clip. Laney Malloy posted 16 kills and 17 digs for her fifth double-double in 2019. Annie Wehrheim who crushed the match-clinching kill, added 11 on a .364 hitting percentage. Claire Ochs dished out 46 assists in her hometown. Tara Beilsmith tallied a match high 20 digs to complement her career high five service aces.
 
Non-Conference Recap
Southeast concluded non-conference play last Saturday with an 8-6 mark that features a pair of tournament championships and a four-match win streak entering the OVC slate. SEMO last won two tournaments in 2012 when the team registered a 21-13 record.
 
Southeast captured its Redhawks Invitational Championship with victories over Jackson State, Western Illinois and Evansville. The Redhawks also defeated Saint Louis for the first time since 2013 on Sept. 17.
  
500th NCAA Win
Southeast captured the 2019 Redhawks Invitational Championship on Sept. 7 after registering a perfect 3-0 record with three consecutive, 3-0 sweeps. SEMO opened the tournament with wins over Jackson State and Western Illinois before a sweep of Evansville. The victory over Evansville in the tournament finale marked the 500th NCAA Division I win for the Redhawks in school history. Southeast joined the NCAA Division I and the Ohio Valley Conference in 1991. 
 
Redhawk Debuts
Five members of the 2019 team have made their Southeast debuts this season. Freshmen Zoey Beasley and Kylie Plant both made their Redhawk debuts in the win over Jackson State at the Redhawks Invitational Sept. 6. Sophomore Colby Greene and freshmen Tara Beilsmith and Talia Gouard saw action at the season-opening Dr. Mary Jo Wynn Invitational at Missouri State Aug. 30-31. 
 
Record Books
Krista Berns had two block assists against UT Martin to increase her career total to 275 which is fifth all-time in SEMO history for career block assists (25-point rally scoring era from 2008 to present). Berns also ranks fifth overall at Southeast with 275 total blocks and sixth for solo blocks with 39. 
 
Berns has 42 total blocks this season.
 
O Captains! My Captains!
Southeast Head Coach Julie Yankus announced on Sept. 3, Claire Ochs, Laney Malloy and Emily Boggetto were selected as team captains for the 2019 season. The trio were chosen to the leadership positions by their teammates.
 
Redhawk Scrimmage Recap
Southeast competed in the Redhawk Scrimmage Aug. 24 at Houck Field House in preparation for the 2019 season. Head coach Julie Yankus coached the red team while assistant coach Loni Kreun was at the helm of the black team. The red team edged the black team in three sets, 25-15, 25-14, 25-15. Colby Greene paced the red team with a match-high 11 kill outing while Laney Malloy added nine with 12 digs and Talia Gouard tallied eight kills. Krista Berns had six kills to complement her five service aces and four blocks. Claire Ochs dished out 26 assists with 11 digs. Ally Dion finished with a double-double of 13 assists with 16 digs and two aces on black.
 
Missouri Baptist Exhibition Recap
The Redhawks edged Missouri Baptist, 3-0, in the program's third consecutive exhibition match Aug. 12 at Houck Field House. SEMO swept the Spartans by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-20. Colby Greene led the Redhawks with six kills, while Laney Malloy, Krista Berns and Claire Ochs followed close behind with five each. Ochs added a double-double of 29 assists with a match-high 14 digs. The Redhawks added seven blocks, as well.
 
Roster Breakdown
The 2019 Southeast team includes 16 student-athletes and features seven upperclassmen (four seniors and three juniors). SEMO returns 12 players from the 2018 OVC Tournament Team and only lost four letter winners. The 2019 squad also includes four newcomers. 
 
Annie Wehrheim returns for her senior season, moving to the right side hitter position after a Second-Team All-OVC performance in 2018 at outside hitter. Wehrheim was named to the 2019 Preseason All-OVC volleyball team after she was third on SEMO last season with 204 kills.
 
Other top returners for the Redhawks offensively are Laney Malloy and Krista Berns. Malloy paced Southeast with 299 kills and Berns was fifth on the team, chipping in 134 kills.
 
Claire Ochs returns at setter for her sophomore campaign and totaled 1,104 assists while starting in all but one match in 2018. Ochs ranks fourth all-time for assists in a single season during SEMO's 25-point rally scoring era. She also notched a team-best 18 double-doubles last season including a 57-assist and 21-dig outing at Eastern Illinois.
 
Defensively, junior Ally Dion returns at the libero/defensive specialist position after she led the team in 2018 with 395 digs (3.53 digs/set). Senior Emily Boggetto also returns for her final collegiate season at Southeast.
 
Maggie Adams topped the team in 2018 with 105.0 total blocks and Berns tallied 80.0. Berns ranks sixth overall in the SEMO record books for career solo blocks (35), block assists (198) and total blocks (233).
 
Redhawks Add Kreun as Assistant Coach
Head coach Julie Yankus added assistant coach Loni Kreun in May. Kreun most recently spent a season as the Volunteer Assistant Coach at UNC Charlotte where she gained experience in scouting, recruiting, and practice organization. She coordinated logistics for team travel and helped develop the team's social media presence.
 
Before transitioning to coaching, Kreun was an outside hitter at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina. During her senior year, she led the Camels with a team best 332 kills, which ranked fifth in the Big South Conference. Kreun was named to the Big South Second-Team after competing in 121 sets over 31 matches.
 
OVC Preseason Poll
SEMO was predicted to finished the 2019 campaign sixth overall in the league, the OVC announced Aug. 15. The Redhawks received 146 points in the poll voted on by OVC coaches and sports information directors. Murray State, the 2018 OVC Champions, were selected to repeat this season and Austin Peay was picked second followed by Morehead State, Jacksonville State and SIUE. The Racers earned 12 first-place votes. Rounding out the poll are UT Martin, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, Belmont, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky from seventh through 12th.
 
Redhawks Crushing it in the Classroom 
Southeast racked up multiple academic awards in the offseason. The Redhawks earned a NCAA Public Recognition Award based on their most recent multiyear Academic Progress Rates for the fourth-straight season. SEMO was also awarded their 12th American Volleyball Coaches Association AVCA Team Academic Award for the 2018-2019 season after registering a 3.60 cumulative GPA.
 
Maggie Adams, Madara Bajare, Krista Berns, Haley Bilbruck, Caroline Draver, Keegan Fornoff, Colby Greene, Madeline Grimm, Laney Malloy, Elissa Moylan, Claire Ochs and Annie Wehrheim each were named to the OVC's Commissioner's Honor Roll for the 2018-19 academic year after they achieved at least a 3.25 grade point average. 
 
Keegan Fornoff and Madeline Grimm both earned OVC Medal of Honors after they posted perfect 4.0 grade point averages during the 2018-19 academic year.
 
Looking Ahead
Saturday's match at Tennessee Tech starts a three-match road stretch for Southeast. The Redhawks head to Austin Peay Friday, Oct. 4 for a 6 p.m. match before completing the trip at Murray State on Saturday, Oct. 5. First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Murray, Kentucky.