CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – Top-seeded Southeast Missouri women's volleyball (26-7) secured the 2021 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Championship with a five-set decision (25-22, 25-23, 19-25, 15-25, 15-13) over #2 Morehead State (20-12) Saturday evening at Houck Field House.
 
After 3-0 sweeping Morehead State in both 2021 regular-season matchups, SEMO outlasted the Eagles in five sets in the battle of the 2021 OVC Regular-Season Co-Champions Saturday.
 
SEMO has now won all three meetings with Morehead State this season.
 
With the victory, the Redhawks won their second OVC Tournament Championship in three seasons and seventh in program history.
 
Southeast Missouri last won the regular-season and the tournament title in the same season in 2000.
 
Laney Malloy, Colby Greene and Claire Ochs were named to the 2021 All-OVC Tournament Team. Ochs was also tabbed the 2021 OVC Tournament MVP.
 
Malloy, the 2021 OVC Player of the Year, finished with 53 kills and 36 digs for her second career All-Tournament honors. Greene added 37 kills on a .354 hitting percentage for her first career postseason tournament laurels.
 
Ochs, the 2021 OVC Setter of the Year, was named to her third career OVC All-Tournament team and second MVP honor in three seasons. She concluded the tourney with 128 assists and 47 digs as SEMO hit a .244 over the three days.
 
Ochs dished out 45 assists and 19 digs with five kills Saturday.
 
Malloy led the Redhawks Saturday evening with 21 kills and 16 digs. Zoey Beasley, a 2021 All-OVC First Team player, added 18 and five blocks. Greene notched 11 kills with three digs and two blocks.
 
With the match tied at 2-2, SEMO captured the title with a 15-13 fifth frame.
 
The Redhawks took the opening two points on kills from Elissa Moylan and Beasley.
 
Malloy added two more kills to extend the lead to 7-4. SEMO then went to the media stoppage with an 8-5 edge.
 
Out of the break, the Eagles knotted the set at 8-8 after a Redhawk error and a pair of kills by Abby Hulsman.
 
SEMO then utilized a 3-0 run to pull ahead 12-9. Beasley slammed a pair of kills and teamed up Moylan for a block during the sequence.
 
Olivia Lohmeier registered a kill after a Redhawk error to bring the Eagles within one, 12-11, and prompt a SEMO timeout.

Morehead State then tallied a pair of errors to make it match point at 14-11.
 
Lohmeier posted two more kills to cut the deficit to 14-13.
 
Malloy secured the Championship title with a kill, 15-13. She had three kills in the decisive fifth set and Beasley chipped in four.
 
MOR started the match with a 5-1 lead in the opening set.
 
SEMO pulled ahead 8-6 after a 6-0 run and added three more points to increase the advantage to 11-7.
 
Consecutive kills from Malloy and Beasley provided a little distance between the two schools, 19-16.
 
The Eagles retook the lead, 21-20, after a 3-0 run.
 
After a 22-22 tie, SEMO claimed the next three points on Eagles errors to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
The Redhawks hit .200 in both the first and final sets Saturday.
 
Malloy had six kills in the initial set while Beasley knocked five.
 
The duo combined for 10 (five each) in set #2 where the Redhawks increased their advantage to 2-0 on a match-high .233 clip. Beasley hit .500 in the second stanza.
 
Morehead State commenced the second set with a 9-3 lead. SEMO closed the gap and went ahead 11-9 after an 8-0 rally.
 
Greene and Malloy added kills to bookend a 4-0 run to make it a slight 19-18 edge.
 
Beasley and Greene then hit consecutive rally stoppers to make it set point at 24-22.
 
Hulsman hit a kill to cut the lead to one before a huge block by Moylan and Beasley.
 
The Eagles then outhit the Redhawks, .227 and .244, to .095 and .000 in the third and fourth sets, respectively, to force the crucial fifth and final set.
 
Morehead State jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the third set after a 7-0 run. A kill by Irene Wogenstahl widened the gap to 19-11.
 
SEMO then mounted a huge 7-0 rally to cut the deficit to 19-17. Greene knocked a kill before a Tara Beilsmith ace followed by a block assist from Malloy and Talia Gouard. Greene also teamed up with Gouard for a block after another kill during the sequence.
 
The Eagles then rallied off four straight points for set point at 24-18 before winning the set 25-19.
 
Morehead State then tied the match at 2-2 with a 25-15 fourth stanza. The Eagles went up 11-5 and increased their lead to 21-13 after some SEMO errors.
 
Hulsman knocked a kill to make the lead 22-14. She then added two more kills before and after a Redhawk error to force set #5.
 
Hulsman finished with 13 kills. Lohmeier led the Eagles with 18 kills and six digs. Maycie Welborn added 13 kills.
 
Bridget Bessler notched 49 assists and seven digs. Allison Whitten had a match-best 40 digs. Four Morehead State players finished in double-figures for digs.
 
Beilsmith, a 2021 All-OVC performer, led the Redhawks defense with 29 digs, four assists and an ace. Ally Dion added 16 digs with five assists. Kayla Closset posted 14 digs.
 
Gouard led SEMO with six blocks as the Redhawks totaled 12. Morehead State finished with 13 total blocks.
 
Moylan added four blocks, five digs and three kills.
 
The Eagles led the aces category, 5-1.
 
Assists finished tied at 56-56 and the Redhawks had six more digs (108-102).
 
Nine Redhawks have now captured two OVC Tournament titles in both 2019 and 2021.
 
The NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Championship bracket will be announced the Sunday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m., CT on ESPNU before the first round of competition. SEMO has secured the OVC's automatic bid and will await their opponent for the first round. The first and second rounds are scheduled for Dec. 2-4.