Redhawks Head to Regional Rival Southern Illinois for Tuesday Night Matchup

Tuesday, September 10

Carbondale, Ill.

6:00 p.m.

Southeast Missouri State University

Southern Illinois

Photo by: Marc Mahnke

9/9/2019 3:54:00 PM | Volleyball

Southeast Missouri (4-2)
vs. Southern Illinois (3-3)
Match Information
Date: Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019
Location: Carbondale, Ill.
Venue: Davies Gym
First Serve: 6 p.m., CT
Series: SIU leads series, 20-10
Watch: ESPN+
Live Stats: SIDEARM Stats

Complete Match Notes:
Southeast Missouri

Redhawks Head to Regional Rival Southern Illinois for Tuesday Matchup
Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (4-2) ventures to Carbondale, Illinois, Tuesday to face border rival Southern Illinois (3-3) in a 6 p.m., CT midweek matchup at Davies Gym. SIU is the third Missouri Valley Conference school that Southeast will face in 2019.

Follow the Redhawks
• Stats will be available for Tuesday's match on GoSoutheast.com.
• @SEMOvb, the official Twitter page of Redhawks volleyball, will feature live in-game updates all season long.

Scouting the Salukis
Southern Illinois posted a 2-1 record this past weekend at its 2019 Saluki Bash. The Salukis beat Alabama A&M and Southeastern Louisiana, 3-1, to open and close the tournament. SIU fell to sister school and eventual champion, SIUE, 1-3, in the second match on Friday. Rachel Maguire and Savannah Sheridan were each named to the All-Tournament Team. Maguire tallied her second career triple-double Saturday, as she finished with 12 kills, 17 assists, 11 digs and two aces. Sheridan, meanwhile, hit. 383 on the weekend, including .619 with 13 kills in the win over Alabama A&M.

The Salukis were picked to finish 2019, ninth out of 10 teams in the Missouri Valley Conference. SIU registered a record of 5-26 (1-17 MVC) in 2018. The Salukis return three starters as head coach Ed Allen takes over the program. Allen arrives in Carbondale by way of the University of Alabama, where he served as head coach for eight seasons, which included two trips to the NCAA Tournament.

Series History
Southern Illinois has a 20-10 advantage in the all-time series with SEMO.

Southeast swept the Salukis in 2018 on Houck "Filled" House Night on Sept. 4 at Houck Field House. It was the Redhawks first victory over SIU since Sept. 7, 2013 at the Kansas State Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas. The Redhawks had an evenly distributed offense in the 2018 victory as Krista Berns led the Redhawks with a season high eight kills on a .438 hitting percentage and both Maggie Adams (.385) and Madara Bajare chipped in six. Laney Malloy, Haley Bilbruck and Claire Ochs each had five kills.

SEMO last won in Carbondale, Illinois, on Sept. 14, 2004 (3-0 sweep).

Southeast Saluki Connection
Southeast Head Coach Julie Yankus was an associate head coach at Southern Illinois from 2006 to 2010. At Southeast, Yankus has a 2-5 record against her former school, which includes last season's 3-0 win over the Salukis.

Redhawks Invitational Champions
Southeast captured the 2019 Redhawks Invitational Championship this past Saturday 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 Friday before a sweep of Evansville Saturday afternoon.

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. Colby Greene and Laney Malloy were also 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 SEMO over the three matches with 32 total kills while hitting .329 including nine kills with four service aces on Saturday. She also had 17 digs at the Invitational.

Tara Beilsmith led Southeast defensively this past weekend with 54 digs over the three matches. In the opener against Jackson State, Beilsmith had 18 digs. She then added 14 digs against Western Illinois. In the finale with Evansville, Beilsmith notched a personal best 22 digs. In serve-receive, Beilsmith only had one receiving error over the three matches. She finished the weekend with 10 assists and three service aces.

Redhawk Debuts
Freshmen Zoey Beasley and Kylie Plant both made their Redhawk debuts Friday in the win over Jackson State. Beasley finished with a block and Plant chipped in a dig during the contest with the Tigers. Five members of the 2019 team have now made their Southeast debuts this season as 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
Ally Dion posted four service aces this past weekend at the Redhawks Invitational and now has 76 in her career as a Redhawk. She now ranks fifth overall in SEMO history during the 25-point rally scoring era (2008 to present). Dion is two aces behind Berkley Idel who registered 78 aces from 2010-13.

Krista Berns now ranks fifth overall at Southeast (25-point rally scoring era from 2008 to present) for total blocks (260) after she had nine at the Redhawks Invitational. She is also sixth for solo blocks (37) and block assists (223). Berns is seven block assists from tying Emily Hughes (230 from 2008-10) for fifth.

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
Southeast next competes in its third tournament of the season at the Panthers Invitational in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 13-14. The Redhawks open the tournament on Friday 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. SEMO closes out the Invitational against Butler at noon on Saturday.