CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-2) captured the 2019 Redhawks Invitational Championship with its third-straight 3-0 sweep Saturday afternoon at Houck Field House.
 
After opening the tournament Friday with sweep wins over Jackson State (3-4) and Western Illinois (3-3), Southeast completed the trifecta with a 25-17, 27-25, 25-19, victory over Evansville (1-2) Saturday.
 
"I'm so proud of how we performed this weekend," head coach Julie Yankus said after Saturday's match. "We had an amazing environment on Friday afternoon with Cape Central Middle School here. We just kept that energy into Friday night and played solid against WIU. We were able to distribute our offense fairly even, which forced WIU to struggle to defend us. We really did a great job all weekend with getting our opponents out of system by serving aggressive and we stayed in system when in serve receive so we could run our offense."
 
Claire Ochs was named the 2019 Redhawks Invitational MVP after she tallied 29 assists in the match with the Purple Aces. Ochs finished the weekend with 87 assists, 21 digs, 11 kills and eight blocks.
 
"So many players had solid performances, but I'm very proud of Claire and her leadership, ability to run our offense, and her competitive drive to push our team to a tournament championship," Yankus said of Ochs.
 
Colby Greene and Laney Malloy were named to the all-tournament team.
 
Greene along with Annie Wehrheim (.321) paced the Redhawks Saturday with 10 kills. Greene completed the tournament with 27 kills on a .355 hitting clip and added eight blocks.
 
Malloy led the Redhawks over the three matches with 32 total kills while hitting .329 including nine with four service aces on Saturday. She also had 17 digs at the Invitational.
 
Southeast jumped out to a 9-3 advantage in the opening set, which brought on an Evansville timeout.
 
Back-to-back kills from Maggie Adams and Greene extended the margin to 18-9.
 
The Purple Aces came as close as 22-17 before two Malloy kills and a setting error closed out the set for SEMO, 25-17.
 
Malloy had four rally stoppers in the opening set as Southeast hit at a .290 rate.
 
The second set was a tighter affair as Evansville and the Redhawks were knotted 12 times during the frame.
 
A 5-0 run gave the Redhawks some breathing room and brought on a Purple Aces timeout with SEMO leading 17-12.
 
Adams and Greene combined for two block assists in the rally.
 
Out of the break, Evansville responded with six straight points to pull ahead, 18-17.
 
The Purple Aces then tied the set at 23-23, 24-24 and 25-25.
 
Greene slammed a kill before teaming up with Krista Berns for a block assist to claim the set, 27-25.
 
Greene and Wehrheim both tallied half (five) of their 10 kills in the middle frame. Berns and Greene (career high) also led the Redhawks defensively with six total blocks each in the match.  
 
Southeast then began the final set with a fast start. Malloy registered three service aces during a 5-0 run to bring the Redhawks lead to 12-5.
 
A Malloy kill along with block assists from Talia Gouard and Greene with an Ochs ace made the advantage, 18-7.
 
Two kills from Alondra Vazquez and a rally stopper from Kate Tsironis cut the edge to 22-18 and prompted a SEMO timeout.
 
Ochs then was a part of block assists with Berns and then Gouard after the stoppage as the sophomore from Chesterfield, Missouri, matched a personal high five blocks.
 
Wehrheim followed that up with a kill to seal the Championship with a 25-19 third set.
 
Tara Beilsmith paced the defense with 22 digs and finished the weekend with 54. Ally Dion added 12 Saturday with two service aces. Malloy had 10 digs.
 
Southeast out blocked Evansville, 12-3.
 
The Redhawks next head to Carbondale, Illinois, on Tuesday for a mid-week matchup against regional rival Southern Illinois (3-3) at 6 p.m. at Davies Gym.
 
SEMO then competes in its third tournament of the season at the Panthers Invitational in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 13-14. The Redhawks open the tournament on Sept. 13 at 12:30 p.m. against Milwaukee which is the alma mater of head coach Julie Yankus before facing Western Michigan at 5 p.m. Southeast closes out the Invitational against Butler at noon on Sept. 14.
 
Tournament Standings
1. Southeast Missouri (3-0) 
2. Western Illinois (2-1)
3. Evansville (1-2)
4. Jackson State (0-3)

All-Tournament Team
Claire Ochs, Southeast Missouri, MVP
Colby Greene, Southeast Missouri
Laney Malloy, Southeast Missouri
JoJo Kruize, Western Illinois
Mackenzie Steckler, Western Illinois
Melanie Feliciano, Evansville
Jylen Whitten, Jackson State