CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (20-6, 11-3 OVC) downed Austin Peay (17-9, 10-3 OVC), 25-9, 25-18, 25-19, Friday night at Houck Field House to leap frog the Governors in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.
 
With the 3-0 sweep Friday, SEMO secured the regular-season series over Austin Peay. The Redhawks notched their 11th, 3-0 sweep of the season and now have 20 victories on the campaign.
 
SEMO last registered 20 wins in 2019, finishing with an overall mark of 23-11.
 
Laney Malloy led the Redhawks offense with 17 kills with eight digs on a .424 hitting percentage. Zoey Beasley added 13 kills and five digs on a rate of .344. Colby Greene finished with eight rally stoppers and Talia Gouard had five.
 
SEMO opened the match with a 10-1 advantage. The Redhawks then widened the gap to 22-5 after a 10-0 rally.
 
Malloy had four kills during the sequence including consecutive ones.
 
Austin Peay came as close as 22-9 after a 4-0 run that featured back-to-back kills from Brooke Moore.
 
Greene, Gouard and Malloy all then belted kills down the stretch as SEMO grabbed the opening frame, 25-9.
 
SEMO hit a match-best .552 in the opening set as Malloy tallied six kills and Greene posted four. Friday's opening set directly contrasted Thursday's wild, marathon first stanza of 35-33.
 
In the second set, the Redhawks once again started fast with a 12-6 advantage after a Beasley winner.
 
Beasley added another before a Govs error made it 15-10 at the media timeout.
 
SEMO then strung together a 5-1 run to push its lead to 21-13. Malloy hit a kill before an Ally Dion service ace during the sequence.
 
The Governors cut the deficit to 21-17 after a 4-0 run before the Redhawks scored four of the last five points to claim the frame.
 
Malloy and Beasley each had five kills during the set as SEMO hit at a rate of .323.
 
In the third set, SEMO commenced with a 10-6 edge that went to 15-10 after a Beasley kill.
 
Malloy belted a kill to make the score 17-13.
 
Beasley added a kill before Megan Harris placed an ace to extend the advantage to 20-16.
 
Moore hit a kill before a SEMO error cut the margin to 22-19.
 
Greene then knocked consecutive kills before a final rally stopper by Malloy secured the sweep, 25-19.
 
SEMO outhit Austin Peay, .371 to .101 in the dominating match. The Governors opened the match with percentages of .031 and .047 in the opening two sets.
 
APSU finished with .235 in the third period.
 
Claire Ochs dished out 36 assists and 12 digs. Tara Beilsmith paced the SEMO defense with 16 digs.
 
Beasley and Kayla Closset each chipped in five digs and Gouard had four.
 
The Redhawks outscored APSU, 55-37, and led every category except blocks.
 
Kills favored SEMO, 48-28.
 
Moore led the Governors with nine kills and 13 digs. Kelsey Mead and Janvier Buggs each had eight assists with three digs. Caroline Waite finished with six assists.
 
Erin Eisenhart grabbed eight digs with four assists.
 
SEMO next heads to OVC rival, Murray State Nov. 5-6 for its final regular-season road matches in 2021. Match times are set for 6 p.m., CT in the Friday, Saturday series.